one more miracle

This is my 2,501st post! Yay! *throws confetti* My my, I've certainly had a lot to say, haven't I? Not recently as much, sadly, but LJ has been such a hugely important part of my life for the last 6 years or so. I'm so glad I found it and all of you. ♥

Life things! My daddy has now moved to Ann Arbor and it's so wonderful to have him around. He's moved into his brother's house because he couldn't afford to keep his house in Connecticut anymore. It's unfortunate, and he's sad he had to leave my sister (who's in high school and living with my mom), but he's always loved Ann Arbor and so much more of his family (his two siblings, his nieces and nephews, me!) are here and I think it's going to ultimately make him happier. He already got a good offer on his house back in CT and the inspection process is underway, so fingers crossed that that all goes smoothly! An offer this soon was definitely not expected in this economy, so I hope so much it works out. I recruited some friends to help him move furniture in and stuff, so that was fun, and since then we've just been hanging out now and then, and it's really, really nice. My daddy is my favorite person in the whole world, so having him around is like having a best friend nearby again (something I've felt sorely lacking ever since Francisco moved away). Yesterday we went for a wonderful walk/hike through the UMich arboretum - it was the most perfect fall day, 60s and sunny, and we had a lovely time. Then he made his delicious stew for dinner and ohhh I have missed my daddy's home cooking! It was a really great day.

Another great thing about yesterday is I finally got my bike!! My dad brought my old high school bike out with him and so now I finally have it, so I bought a helmet and a lock and lights and I am all ready to go! I hopped on it for a quick spin yesterday and it felt so right - I didn't realize how much I had missed it! Biking is so much more fun than running to me - I love speed! I'm going to be biking to and from work from now on (almost 1 mile each way) and tonight I took it out for a little while. I came back sweaty and noodle legged but it was so great, I really loved it. Hopefully I can make that a regular part of my life. :D

( Moar life thoughts and such. )

So that's my life right now! I figured it was time for an update of some sort.

How are you? ♥

I had a most lovely weekend! My dear cousin Meg came down to visit me from where she lives near Lansing. She's 36, married to a great guy with two kids, and she and I have received many of the same genes from our shared side of the family so we have clicked ever since I was a wee thing. She is made of awesome and win and we had such a great time with our girls' weekend! The weather was PERFECTION the entire time - sunny, 70s, with a light breeze. Saturday we went to lunch at a great place, and then we went to a bead store, the used bookstore, a great fair trade clothing shop where Meg bought TWO awesome jackets, and my favorite coffee shop Lab (where the adorable German barista remembered me again and I found out his name is Toby - which is also Meg's son's name, hilarious) where one of the baristas recommended a iced raspberry mocha to Meg and she was very pleased. Then we went to my actual lab and I showed her around, and we hung out with Francisco because he was the only one there late in the afternoon on a Saturday, what, nerd. She was super charmed by him and even sadder for me that he's leaving. This was a theme of the weekend.

We went home, watched some Big Bang Theory with my roomies, and one of my roomies and her boyfriend grilled chicken and veggies for us! ♥ Then we went out for cocktails because Meg wanted to pretend to be a grad student for a night. :) We hit up two of my favorite bars with my roomies and Francisco, and there was some hilarious girltalk over martinis while Francisco literally squirmed and tried not to look like he wanted to die. IT WAS ADORABLE. Meg reiterated that the universe is a cruel cruel thing for stealing him away from me, and all I can do is agree. Ugh, it's ridiculous.

Hilarious explication of my post title: my roommate Nichole has a super intense Korean boss who frequently drives her to tears. However, this boss sometimes comes out with hilarious gems when they are out drinking as a lab (which they do pretty frequently!). Apparently, according to Nichole's boss, if you don't meet the other person's eyes when you are clinking glasses, you will have SEVEN YEARS OF BAD SEX. LOLOLOL WHAT IS THAT. So, APPARENTLY, when they are out drinking and people go to clink glasses, Nichole's boss just says "Seven years. SEVEN YEARS." and is super intense about it. OMG HILARITY. So of course we kept clinking and staring intently into each others eyes. Awesomeness.

We ended up going to sleep at like 4 AM, what, and then Sunday morning we went to brunch at this amaaaazing place downtown. I had a spiced apple and walnut crepe, om freaking nommmm. Also amazing coffee. Then we went to my favorite, the Cupcake Station, because it is an Ann Arbor MUST. Thennn we walked around an art supply store and Borders, walked by Lab and saw the Cute German Barista there again (he seems to sit outside reading a lot - we hypothesized that he might actually be one of the owners? Hmmmm!), and finally headed to my apartment so she could drive back home. All in all it was a relaxing/exhausting (because of all the walking!) weekend filled with good chats and good friends. Meg has worked nonstop for the last 7 weeks (LITERALLY - she runs her own company dyeing yarn, and works 65 hours a week, on TOP of being a mom to two) so I think this downtime was really good for her. She seemed to enjoy herself, anyway! Yay. :)

I finished off my day today by taking a beautiful drive through the country in the sunshine - there are few things more relaxing to me than zipping along back roads, blasting music and generally feeling at peace with life. Then I went to Kohl's, where I got an AMAZING deal on luggage - I bought this adorable five piece luggage set for only 67 DOLLARS. Down from $180! Eee I love Kohl's. I had pretty much no decent large suitcases, and I wanted something good to bring to Dublin. I got more than I was hoping for, because the small suitcase is going to be awesome for short trips too! Love itttt. And it's all pretty too. :D

OH YEAH I'M LEAVING FOR DUBLIN IN TEN DAYS OMGGG MY LIFE WHAT. :DDDDD

Ahem. Yay for good weekends! Now I am numb with exhaustion and have to face a Monday morning, but whatev whatev. ♥