Day 304/365 (May 17, 2015)

Got up super early and bought new flip flops then grabbed the car and went out to New Rochelle for Clare's surprise golden birthday party. I helped Paula and Winnie set up and I won't lie my favorite part was not setting up all the candy that I sampled too much of, it was sprinkling glitter all over the tables! (I should note on the way i hit some minor traffic and if i had left even 60 seconds earlier i would have avoided it because i could see what was causing the traffic... man oh man!)

Her party was a great success! They served delicious virgin mimosas (since it was brunch) and then we had warm yummy pastries, fruit, fluffy pancakes, and her birthday cake... and you know more candy! There was Clare themed trivia and just a lovely time. Finally I headed off to target quickly then back home.

I decided last minute to go help get support for Jake in the Broadway Hunger Games so I made a glitter sign, used my hair drier to speed the process (which totally worked) and headed out to drum up some support. I got more people than I thought I would, so I was pleased by that! He even made a video of me to post.... it was funny because he was trying to tell me what to do and I was like oh you have no idea how crazy i can get! Then i went off to Food Emporium to pick up the last few things I needed that o forgot to get at Target.

On my way back i ran into the annoying food cart guy by my office that i try to avoid. he flagged me down, turns out he lives ACROSS THE STREET FROM ME what are the odds? oof!

Made the yummy broccoli and tofu stir-fry again! After dinner i used iMovie n my phone for the first time to successfully make and post the video!

Day 300/365 (May 13, 2015)

I walked 4 miles uptown for an appointment then i headed out to New Rochelle for the day. I got the most loving greeting from Penny. I spent the day with her and Paula. We walked around Larchmont for quite some time, and then eventually went to Target, Michales, and Trader Joes and I spent some time with Clare, Winnie, and Dennis after they got home from school. Although at one point while were out Winnie made chocolate chip cookies and when we got back i knew what it felt like to be my roommates because the smell was intoxicating and i just wanted to shove them in my mouth. Eventually i decided that it was okay to have a little bit of the cookie action. After dinner i went back home.

Also please note in the Larchmont Train Station vending machine you can get a snack or a phone charger.

Day 280/365 (April 23, 2015)

Got up and took care of the boys' litter boxes and all the garbage, then showered, and headed to work.

Then I headed out to New Rochelle for Dennis' birthday. It was nice to visit with them and get a little Penny love. Penny and I went for a walk/run and by the end of the night I was in an emotional wreck for reasons unbeknownst to me. Got home and watched Scandal with Sasha... glad Jake survived!

I didn't make the cake,  but am trained to take pictures of them!

Day 274/365 (April 17, 2015)

My morning began quite early. I picked up the car an drove to New Rochelle for the funeral. So sad and I cried quite a few times. It was also stressful driving to the burial site (which was really far away) because people kept cutting off the funeral procession and I was afraid I would lose track of it and mess everyone up behind me. After the grave site service we made our way to Wykagyl for the reception. When that was over I headed to trader joes, then went back home.

I met up with Holly and Anna for a bit before meeting up with Lola to take her home. She asked me if I cried while she was away on vacation... to which I said yes! It was especially nice to spend some time with her after the sad events of the day. She always puts a smile on my face. She told me all about her trip to Mexico and we took the bus out. She even put her hair bow in my hair for me to keep. On our way we got a change of plans and where I was bringing her. When I told her it was to restaurant she asked which one, and I said the one I brought her to before where we played with Chalk and danced... she was like oh Tamra that is a pub!

Luckily I was able to hop on the bus pretty quickly and got back into Manhattan pretty early. It was so beautiful out that I decided to go for a long walk to hit my step goal for the day. I walked for quite sometime and ran into all kinds of familiar faces like Jen Tepper, Steven Tartick, Corey Mach, and Telly. This would have been fine except I realized after that I was still wearing Lola's bow haphazardly in my hair... i must have looked like a hot mess!

When I got home i ordered v{iv} for my last hurrah and began helping Sasha with making her 560 playbill flowers. They hired her earlier in the day to make them for the Easter Bonnet dinner on Tuesday... such short notice!

Charlie loved the Playbill bag and Fred is a jerk and drank from my Ravenclaw cup

Day 273/365 (April 16, 2015)

After work I headed out to New Rochelle. I decided to walk to Paula and Ted's from the train station. The walk is not bad at all except you run out of sidewalk pretty early on so I was risking my life and getting all kinds of yuck in my boots. Also by the Larchmont train station there is a Thai restaurant named Durien... why would you name your food place after the worst tasting food?

I feel so sad for my cousins this sort of thing is terrible. It is made worse because it is always nice to see people you haven't seen in a while, but it is for a sad reason so you feel conflicted. I finally met Ted's brother that lives in San Diego. Patty, Auntie Margaret, and Uncle Dennis came up as did Mo and John. After everyone headed to the funeral home we stayed behind and cleaned everything up for them, then finally headed to the wake. Susan and Doug (Fleming) came and when I saw them I almost cried because it has been so long and I truly do miss them... and I won't lie hearing Doug call me "T" again made me have a flood of emotions. I really need to make more of an effort to see them.
Marya was also there... eventually I headed home for the night.

Day 261/365 (April 4, 2015)

Got up super early and made the stabilized whip cream for the banana pudding cheesecake. Then I decorated it... I was going to go exercise but couldn't leave apartment because I had to wait for the exterminator to come. After he left I showered and headed out to New Rochelle. It was difficult carrying both the cake and cheesecake but I was a rock star and managed... even put money on my metro card while balancing them both! Luckily some guy helped me hold the cake while I was getting my train ticket so that was one last struggle.

Got out to New Rochelle and went to trader joe's then back to Paula's and had a bunch of her leftover pizza. Penny was happy to see me. Eventually we headed off to NJ for Easter (a day early). It was at Ming and John's house, cannot believe how big their Michael has gotten. It was nice spending time with everyone and I stuffed my face with food and especially dessert... I did a good job!

Then Paula and Ted dropped me off in the city and I went home and vegged for a bit before heading out to help someone with something and just missed my step goal for the day by 81 steps.

Day 214/365 (February 16, 2015)

I spent the morning on a crepe bender... i ate so many wonderful ones! My favorite was the fluffernutter. I also went to the Laurie Beechman Theatre for the first time in forever to se Broadway Sings for Canines for Kids. It was a cute event and I went because Ravi was in it... he was wonderful and Emily McNamara hosted it... It was nice/weird seeing her at a regular hour! Matthew James Thomas was also there with his adorable dog. He and this girl sang Love Song from Pippin and all I Could think was "you are not KDM" and I have heard 3 others sing it besides him and I didn't have an issue so interesting, Then I headed out to New Rochelle to stay with the cousins for the night because there was a need last minute. I got there and Clare was watching Castle. Then Winnie and Dennis joined... it was funny listening to their remarks like "don't do that you're going to get in trouble and hinder the investigation!" Penny was also super happy to see me and kept putting her paws on my shoulder to stare into my eyes.

Day 133/365 (November 27, 2014)

Happy Thanksgiving! I ate some of my cranberry bread for breakfast... so good! I saw one balloon from the Macy's parade float by as I made my way to the shuttle to head out to New Rochelle.

Thanksgiving was pretty quiet but good. Delicious food that I way overate and I saw Clare making macarons. They were pretty tasty! FOOD COMA and Uncle Dennis helped me with my resume

Day 78/365 (October 3, 2014)

Today after my Jenny appointment I headed out to New Rochelle for a bit to get some resume help from Paula. While there I got some good Penny time and also went out to lunch with her and Dennis. He wanted to go to Smash Burger... I was proud of myself for only getting a salad but it was rough!

Then I headed back home so I could get Karen's birthday cake layers made (chai flavored) before heading out to Marty and Marissa's movie night. I really don't like Little Shop of Horrors (the movie) but its fun to watch movies there!

Day 54/365 (September 9, 2014)

Another early morning of getting people off to school, making lunches, and caring for a dog. I did make myself some yummy french toast with raspberries and honey for breakfast. I am still actively on baby Cunneely watch.

Well Karolina and David welcomed James Andrew into the world, so exciting! Dennis also was excited to decorate a notebook for school "however he wanted" he couldn't stop laughing he was so pleased! Paula and Ted were able to get an earlier flight home so I came back earlier than planned and got some much needed Kitty cuddle time from Fred.

I did make this wonderful Trader Joe's Frosted Flake encrusted chicken for dinner.

Day 53/365 (September 8, 2014)

The major theme of the day was baby (Cunneely) watch. Today was a busy one.... besides keeping an eye on my phone to see if little Cunneely had been born my day was so full!

I got up by 6:15 to make sure the girls were getting ready. I also took Penny outside to go potty, and made Dennis' lunch. I took Clare to school since she had to be there earlier than usual, came back and got Winnie and Dennis off to school. Then I took Penny for a walk, ot ready for the day, and worked for several hours before heading out to run errands. I hit up Trader Joe's, Target and Staples. Let me tell you the Target back to school section was a scary wasteland that should have had tumbleweed rolling through because it was so picked clean, an Staples was a disorganized scary mess. Luckily I found the notebook Clare wanted/needed. Then it was back to the house to play with Penny a bit before Dennis was dropped off and we headed out to get Clare.

When we came home I helped Dennis with his homework and then eventually started to prep dinner. I made a meatball sub bubble up, which was trader joe's biscuits cut into 1/8 pieces and mixed with marinara sauce, topped with frozen meatballs and fresh shredded mozzarella cheese. once I got it in the oven I headed off to pick Winnie up at school after her Field Hockey practice was over. Her practice ran late and then we had to go back to school after leaving because she had forgotten her backpack. When we got home dinner was ready and it was nice catching up on each others' day and then the girls had to finish their homework. Eventually it was time for Dennis to get to bed, then finally the girls. You know it is nice to know I am still capable of playing the role of "soccer mom" if I need to, and I enjoy it at times, but really I am grateful that I do not have to do this full time... it is so difficult and Paula does this on a daily basis, like so many other moms... strong work!

ps as of bedtime there was no news of Baby Cunneely making his appearance in the world... This child really knows how to get attention before he is even born, well played little one, well played!

I should also note I have been eating terribly this whole weekend and only feel mildly bad about it. Tonight, after several nights, and minor help from the cousins, i polished off the Trader Joe's Speculoos and Cookie Butter ice cream, that was quite tasty, ut not as tasty as I had been envisioning, which didn't stop me!

Day 52/365 (September 7, 2014)

We had a quiet morning in and whatnot before I went out and got Winnie and Dennis breakfast sandwiches, then we headed off to Church. They ended up being asked to serve mass and did so very nicely... however this meant I was all by myself and I really am not a fan of church in the slightest so not only did I end up at church but I was all alone. After it was over we went to th grocery store to get some stuff for lunches for the week as well as stuff for dinner for Monday and Tuesday. Then it was back home to work on homework.

Clare finally got back from her retreat and it was nice to see her. We got Mexican for dinner which was super yummy! The poor girls had so much homework they ended up staying up far too late to finish. They only had school one day last week... I was horrified by the amount of homework they had!

It should be noted that when I am in New Rochelle if I am sitting down, Penny is all over me to cuddle and frankly I LOVE it!

I also was so excited to mail out my Netflix! I love checking mail and sending mail, but because in the city I have to find a mail box I always forget, so it was nice to be able to put something in a mailbox and stick the flag up!

Day 51/365 (September 6, 2014)

It was an early day out in New Rochelle, but a good one. It was just Winnie, Dennis, and I since Clare was away on a school retreat. I made pancakes for breakfast, and took Winnie to her Field Hockey game, then the three (well 4) of us went over to their Grandparents for a bit before coming home and working on homework. Let me tell you 6th grade advanced math is no joke, and it took me a few moments to figure out what he was doing so I could Help. Wiinie also had me read over some essays when she was done. The poor thing, I was like English was always my worst subject, and grammar is not my strong suit but I was at least able to tell her they made sense and pick up on a few tiny things to fix. It was so incredibly hot out they had to call her game at Half time because it was 10* hotter on the turf, I can't imagine! Then I brought Winnie to a friends house and Dennis and I enjoyed a movie night together watching Thor: The Dark World before picking Winnie up an going to bed. Penny went with us on mot of our traves so that was nice.

Day 50/365 (September 5, 2014)

what a day! It started out simple enough but I caused myself a bit of stress. I stayed at work later than I had originally planned which was okay but when I got home I decided to relax for a bit before heading down to training. I thought I had training at 5, but at 4:01 i realized it was at 4! AHHHHH I called Travis and apologized and thankfully he was able to reschedule for 6:30 but that threw the whole get out to New Rochelle plan early because I messed up... how sad!

Any who I managed to go to the gym and training then went to GCT and headed out to New Rochelle where I was greeted very enthusiastically by Penny!

Day 30/365 (August 16, 2014)

Woke up in New Rochelle. Took Winnie to her friends' house and went to Trader Joe's, then came back to the house and spent time with Clare and Dennis. It is always nice spending time with them and their dog Penny. Clare has her permit so when it was time to pick Winnie up she drove.

Let me tell you I have never driven with someone who has their permit as the responsible driver before. It was a new experience. She hasn't had her permit for very long and was doing a good job. She was asking questions and did not have a problem taking direction from me the one or two times I had to say something. We even took Penny to the dog park and met a lovely woman and her cute dog Buffy.

Then we went back out and she drove us to the library.Clare was off babysitting for the night so it was just Winnie, Dennis, and I. We tried watching The Mighty Ducks but Netflix kept pausing so in the time it would take to watch the whole movie we only saw about half of it.

Day 344/365 (July 28, 2009)

clare made this... it is my guestimation that i am correct in it having it consist of 631 of those little plastic thingies that make these. it was a group effort clare designed it and placed them, and then myself, winnie, and dennis acted as her minions and picked the colors out of the big sorted pile for her. once again i dont remember the specifics of the day but there was once again alot of reading harry potter. i do enjoy my time in new rochelle.

Day 343/365 (July 27, 2009)

once again i should have updated sooner! i dont remember much of what i did in the orning but decided last minute i was gonna go to paula's and i knew i had to go over to sasha's beforehand... after emergency rush packing and several phone calls i decided to go out to new rochelle on the later side so i could visit sasha and be stress free.

so i grabbed my heavy suitcase (full of laundry) and made my way there and was pleasantly surpirsed to find matthew, mackenzie, and penski there too! we had a lovely time eating sasha's cookies and yummy cheesecake (see above) and helping the other 3 decided which headshots to use of what sasha took... then we overcame the burning on a cd issue using my computer... then sasha figured out how to do it on her own!

anywho sasha packed me up a cookie goodie bag and made my way to new rochelle. i also continued reading harry potter and the deathly hallows like crazy before i went to bed.

Day 328/365 (July 12, 2009)

i stayed in new rochelle over night unexpectedly and it was nice and we spent lots of time reading and playing games this morning outside under the nice umbrella of their patio set. i missed the train by seconds when i was dropped off so i had to wait an hour for another to come... i ended up falling asleep at the train station... it was a very nice nap! On the train i continued reading harry potter until i got to the chapter where they battle and then dumbledore dies... i am so not ready to read that again... such an emotional pull it has on me, i still remember reading that for the first time and after i read avada kedavra even though i treat those books especially well i didnt like what had just happened and i chucked that thing clear across the room and had to wait a bit before i could bring myself to continue reading!

i got home and went to the bathroom because even though i went before i left i really had to pee (TMI warning too late)... i got home and krysta had made brownies, yum!

anywho i made some terryaki chicken for dinner (not as good as i had hoped) and krsyta picked me up a shrimp roll of yum. i worked on an arts and crafts project and although they look kind of cute i am sad they didnt turn out as i had hoped, and it doesnt look like i spent much time on them even though i totally did!

whilst on the train i felt like taking a picture of the pattern on my bag, so there you have it!

Day 327/365 (July 11, 2009)

i headed to new rochelle because my cousin patty was in and i havent seen her in AGES!!!! i spent some quality time and did laundry and it was just really nice being there, even tho gallagher was doing a show at rockwood and i had been planning on going to it, it became clear that i was not going to be able to since it would have taken me forever to get my stuff home, then head there, and inner had finished too late :( sometimes family has to be more important. we played apples to apples junior and i dont like that game but dennis was getting a kick out of it.

i also stayed up way late reading more harry potter... the mark of a good book is no matter how many times you have read it, you are excited to continue reading and you still have a hard time putting it down to go to bed.

Day 326/365 (July 10, 2009)

The day began on the usual side and then i discovered some DVD's... i watched parts from an easter bonnet and gypsy of the year competition. It was pretty fun watching except when i saw Rent's Easter Bonnet from last year... yea it made me cry pretty much from the beginning until the just shortly after the end. i love that it still has such an emotional power over me, it is nice to know i am not completely "emotionally dead inside" as i like to often to joke.

i headed out and met karolina in bryant park and thus began our evening of talking and wedding planning and just a nice time catching up. we were there for a wicked long time but then it got chilly so we went inside at a mcdonald's... i got an angus, bacon cheeseburger... i normally dont dig fast food but i was hungry and it was actually really good! (but i could just have been really hungry)

we ended up staying there until really really very late until they told us they were closing, so that is finally when we parted ways... i came home and instead of getting myself ready for my new rochelle trip tomorrow i am watching tv and writing this! i came home so i wouldnt be up so late from mostly sondheim... guess i will be up late anyway :(