Pennsylvania State of Mind

So this is going to be quite the month for me, Cory, and the State of Pennsylvania. Last weekend, Cory, Kyle and I went to visit my cousins in the outskirts of Pittsburgh, and at the end of this month, Cory and I are going with his mom, sister, and her boyfriend to visit his family in the outskirts of Philadelphia.

But let's begin with what's already happened, shall we?

The purpose of our visit (besides just the fact that I love my cousins and they're super fun) was to see my newborn baby cousin Logan...

...and to belatedly celebrate my cousin Stevie's 21st birthday. We went out to a famous sandwich restaurant/bar called Primanti Brothers or something of the sort... Had some sandwiches, had some drinks, then headed out to Oakland, PA to a bar on the University of Pittsburgh campus. They had dollar Yeung-Lings, which is apparently some famous Pittsburgh beer. Drinking, dancing, getting accosted by genuine drunken Pennsylvanians, and general good times ensued.



We even got to see some guy slip in someone else's puke and face-plant on the floor...on his way out the door, cause they kicked him out for dancing in his underwear.

We also did some shopping, had some brunch at my aunt's, all that good sorta stuff. And I got to hang out with my favorite little boy, Dakota, who is so smart and funny it's ridiculous.

In other news, Cory, Stuart, Bobby and I have decided to stay put for the time being. Meaning, we're not moving out of our house at the end of this month. We've decided it makes more sense to at least wait out the holidays and the wintertime, then see where life takes us. That way, we don't have to spend the extra money right before Christmas, we don't have the hassle of fitting moving into the busy next couple of months, and we don't have to give up our garage, washer & dryer, dishwasher, and attic yet...

Which means I'm staying close enough to work for the time being to continue to come home on my lunchbreaks for some kitty love...

Hope everyone's having a lovely Thursday evening and try not to think about the fact that it was in the 60's outside yesterday and today we had freezing rain...

November Sweeps

I have so many things to get done in the month of November, I feel like I have to try to concentrate on just one at a time, or else I start to feel very overwhelmed. But, at the same time, I tend to be somewhat of a worrier so it's hard to do. Luckily, a lot of the stuff I am getting done this month will be fun, and will be worth the effort I put into making it happen.

This weekend, Cory, my baby sister and I are going to visit my cousins in Pennsylvania. My cousin Claire just had a baby that I haven't seen yet, and her brother Stevie turned 21 over me and Cory's birthday weekend, so we are going to belatedly celebrate with him. I adore my cousins my PA, they are so sweet and lots of fun, and I'm really looking forward to it, and to seeing Claire's other son, Dakota, because he is the cutest little boy on the planet. I'm sorry to all of you moms out there who have sons and are thinking, "No way, my son is WAY cuter." I won't be swayed on this...unless I have my own son, then I'll probably think he's cutest.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, I will be going with Cory, his mom, his sister Dawn, and her boyfriend Scott to the opposite side of Pennsylvania to visit his aunt and uncle, like we did last year. It was a great time last year and our trip included visits to Philadelphia and New York City, plus his aunt is an amazing cook, plus trips with them are always a good time, so I'm very excited for this, too.

The only problem with having both of these trips happen so close together, and during this particular month is that our lease is up at the end of this month, so we need to find a new place to live. Cory and I are going to get a place by ourselves this time around, as we have had roommates the entire time we've been dating and it's time for a place of our own. We love our roommates and I will really miss living with them, but it's time. We'll probably just end up getting an apartment somewhere, but we need to figure out which ones we're interested in, set up appointments to look at them, all that jazz. Then we have to either rent a truck or find someone with a truck, pack all of our stuff, get rid of stuff, clean the house and fix things so we can try to get our security deposit back, all that fun crap-o-la that comes with moving. I hate moving. Well, the actual process of moving. I actually really enjoi living in a new place. I have a tendency to get bored with wherever I live after about 6 months (or less), so moving to a new place is always really fun for me. BUT. I hate the actual moving part. It sucks and sometimes leads me to nervous breakdowns. Ask Cory. It's not fun for him to deal with me during these times, either. Lucky for me, he loves me.

Other than that, I gotta get some stuff together for my grandma's birthday, which was yesterday so I'm obviously already late, but what do you get for a grandma? And then I gotta work on my dad's birthday stuff...which I have mostly done...and I gotta figure out something for my BFF Holly (that reminds me of that silly cell phone commercial, OMG!). Yup.

In the meantime, I've been reading quite a bit lately. I finished "Farenheit 451" by Ray Bradbury, which was awesome, and then I read "Autobiography of a Fat Bride" by Laurie Notaro, which was hilarious. Third book of hers I've read, she's a good time. Now I'm reading "Sister Mine" by Tawnie O'Dell, and it's REALLY good and addicting. One of those can't-put-it-down books. I figured out yesterday that if I close my office door during my lunch break, I can read in a quiet, peaceful environment and no one bothers me. It's awesome.

Hope you're all having a wonderful week! :)