Siter down...WE HAVE A SISTER DOWN

Stylish older sister took a tumble on the mountains of CO yesterday and fractured her collarbone.....OUCH! Her exact words to me was "Sorry I missed your call I was in the medic toboggan."

Poor thing has had a rough '09 physically. She had her Gallbladder removed this summer. 40 stones people. The doctor told her husband she must have a high tolerance for pain. Her daughter broke her arm and spent 2 months in a cast. I'm sure she is glad today is the last day of this year, and tomorrow she can start fresh.

That got me thinking that I have heard several people in the last couple of weeks remark how they are just ready for this year to be OVER. I was a little surprised because it seemed like a fine year. I had some highs, lows were not too bad. Then I realized I must have my blinders on to the lows. Hello I lost my job, and had to spend $4,000 to put a new engine in my car cause the oil plug fell out on the highway. Those were pretty bad. I would be happy to never relive either of those again in my life.

So Sayonara 2009. Bring on 2010 with all it's sparkly promise of a new year, new decade, new opportunities, new surprises, new hopes and dreams.

Have a happy and healthy new years everyone!!!!

And remember to have a designated driver if you are heading out tonight.

2009 the Recap cap cap . . . .

Honestly, where has 2009 gone?

Can you believe we're just about at 2010?

As a child, I definitely thought we would be living on the moon by now.

As such, I am not yet ready to countdown for the New Year.

It seems that there were so much more I was going to do.

Rather than ponder that I'm going to remember the things that
I got to do this year that made me happy and feel 100% ALIVE!!!

1.  Travel

My Husband and I are always itching to get away.  This year we made it to Italy after talking about going for probably 10 years now.  It was a magical trip. And never do I feel more alive than when I'm somewhere I don't really know with my eyes wide open.

It also helps to have a great traveling partner.

I love this man and would travel to the ends of the earth for him.

I'm lucky that he normally wants to make those trips with me.

I also got to see a dear friend get married in California.

Photo by  Diana Vermeulen

And sat up all night debating the world's perils with these lovely ladies.

After a long day at the Portland vineyards.

Spent Valentines Day in DC.

Our hotel had a massage chair in it (think Brookstone)

At first we thought it was so weird.

Then we would race each other back to the room to get to it first.

Also spent a weekend with Lish in Florida.

From Spring Training to South Beach - we covered lots of ground.

2.  Big Celebrations for Great People

A lot of great things happened this year for our friends and family.

I believe by the end of the year we had sent out 15 new baby presents.

They were engagements, weddings, new babies, and most importantly graduations.

Thinking about all our nearest and dearest,

it seems that everybody is in not just a good place but a great place.

Past struggles have subsided and lots of hard work has resulted in great success.

Here are a couple pics of the things we were ecstatic to be celebrating:

 

Engagement Parties!!

Lish Graduates!!

And a rocking party ensues!

 

 

3.  Fun, Fun, Fun

What is life without fun?

Not much.

Here are some things that were so fun and just made me happy.

Boat rides and BBQ's.

Actually just being in Wisconsin is fun.

Weekends in Michigan are also pretty tight and highly recommended.

 

The joy of camp.

During the summer or fall.

It renews my spirit.

I'm happy just knowing that it exists and I get to play minor part in it.

 

My NEW BIKE!!

And Chloe's new mode of transportation.

Come on - how cute are we?!?!

Cafes in Italy.

Has there ever been a more perfect Iced Tea?

Walworth County Fair.

I think this picture saids it all.

Dinner with the ladies

Especially with Fresh margs!

LENNY!!

He's so cool and concerts are so fun.

Makes me feel relatively young.

Trapeze Lessons!

Ok maybe not for Lish.

4.  Sharing our life

We have had so many friends and family come and visit this year.

It's awesome.

All of my siblings and my Husband's brother and sister came to share in the mania of NYC.

I love being a tour guide.

I like changing people's misconceptions of NYC.

Showing them the little slice of heaven that we have carved out for ourselves.

Here were some of our adventures.

 

Sightseeing and Great Restaurants -

What more could a person ask for?

Maybe some ice cream in Brooklyn.

Or the greatest Sundae ever created?

A carriage ride is always nice.

Nothing wrong with checking out an aircraft carrier.

Nothing at all.

 

But all joy is found at Rolf's.

 

5. Lastly, but not least.

Tizzy N'Lish

I love this little blog.

I love our one follower.

I love that it allows me to express myself.

I love that it reaches a couple people and makes them smile and laugh.

I love that it helps me remember as my memory is fading fast.

I just love it, all right.

 Happy New Year!!!

Although a great year - 2009 has also been very hard and challenging for me at times.

Despite these challenges I'm blessed with an incredible family and fantastic friends.

I'm most grateful for these people and to have sooo much love in my life.

So farewell 2009.

It's been swell.

But 2010 is going to be AWESOME!!

Stay tuned!

Just looking to relate

I was just reading people magazine on line, the big story today is people who have lost half their size. Great for them, what an accomplish really Bravo. But.....it got me thinking, I don't need to know about these people. Realistically I don't eat like they did when they were clinically obese. I would like a magazine to do a feature on someone who lost those 10 maybe 15 lbs and kept them off. That's what I need, a before and after of someone who's like me. I want to know what they were eating before and what they eat now, to make them lose the weight. I don't need to know about Kirsty Alley and Valerie Bertinelli losing 50+ lbs, cause I can't relate. I don't keep jalapeno poppers in my freezer. I don't bake and consume all my baking everyday. I don't eat fried food on a regular basis. I don't need the "made it back from the edge" story. I need the I got back to my happy weight story. Is that so much to ask for? And if it could also NOT include cutting out a whole food group, like meat, or carbs, or caffeine (okay that's not a food group but it is important to me) that would be great too.

5 &5

Instead of doing a New Years Resolution my girlfriends and I do a 5&5 list. It lists 5 good things and 5 bad things that have happened in the last year. It's much better than a resolution. It's a way to look back at the year and see what you have or have not accomplished. It's a reality check for sure, and a great way to put life in perspective. Below is my list

5 BAD THINGS OF 2009 (in no particular order)

1)I was laid-off. It was stressful at best. But the silver lining is I really don't think I would have completed my most important project for school if I had been working.

2)I continued to re-injure my back when I would try to get back into working out. I would try to go back too hard too soon.

3) Something has happened with my skin where I have been continuously breaking out. It's not a huge deal but it's the kind of thing that I notice everyday and frustrates me continuously.

4) I thought I would feel more content or clear on my future when I finished school, but I don't.

5) I actually hate my new job. I tried to pretend it was fine, but in the last month I realized that it's less than fine.

5 GOOD THINGS FROM 2009 (in no particular order)

1) I GRADUATED!!!!!! It's such a good feeling to be done. It's the first real goal I have set for myself and accomplished.

2) Even with the bad economy I was only unemployed for 2.5 months and I got almost a 20% raise. Thanks college degree.

3) I have been really good about working out for the last two months. At least 4 days a week. I have found a routine that works and lets me build back into things so I don't keep tweaking my back. I just feel better when I work out consistently.

4) There have been tons of new babies with my friends and they have all been healthy, and happy.

5) I dated a lot more in 2009 than I had in a while. I feel like I put myself out there more than I had in the last couple years.

Winter Slumber . . .

 

Isn't this always an odd week?

Kind of like this picture of my More-Stylish sister.

Still trekking - not quite there yet.

We spent Christmas is Colorado.

It was fantastic.

We did a lot of hot chocolate drinking.

Riding in gondola's

Tubing down the mountain.

Skiing

 

 

And introducing this bunch to

Spoons and Catch Phrase.

A perfect winter getaway.

Lots of nights by the fire.

Although we forgot to have the annual Christmas Talent Show.

This is from last year.

Lish and I killed it with a song and dance number.

But More-Stylish Sister won in the tripod contest against my Husband.

I love Colorado.

Hidden Talents

I cooked my first real meal on Christmas. Now I have cooked before a baked chicken breast here, stir-fry there, egg-bake or coffee cake blah blah. I just never really got into it. Mostly because I only like leftovers once and I have lived alone for 5 years, which made me the master of dinners for one. But this was the first time I have done what felt like a grown-up meal with several sides. And let me tell you I knocked it out of the ball park, it was delicious. I made a turkey breast, mashed potato's, stuffing, pepper salad, and roasted asparagus. I had a TON of leftovers since there was only one size turkey breast when I went to the grocery store, and inclement weather had rerouted some of my guests. So yesterday I took 2/3's of my left over turkey and made a turkey tortilla soup. Again delicious! I have friends who have cooked for years and loved it. But I feel like so many times I hear them being disappointed about what they made. That was not my experience at all. After this weekends triumphs I am going to have to start cooking more often. It just wouldn't be fair to deny this talent.

Merry Christmas!!!

Merry Christmas, Everybody!!!

This is my mom and dad dressed up as Santa and Mrs. Claus.

My mom is a firm believer in  - More is More.

If my Dad was going to be Santa - you bet she was Mrs. Claus.

I hope your Christmas lives in this same spirit -

More Family -

More Christmas Cookies -

More Laughter -

More Hot, Itchy Sweaters  -

More Love -

More Pinot Grigio -

More Friends -

More Joy -

More Christmas!

I love & miss you, Pap.

xoxo

Tizzy

I LOVE THIS!!!!! MUST WATCH

Is THIS a joke?

The Ultimate Thigh Blaster (That You Can Do Right Now in Your Office)

Need some help in the thigh department. No ThighMasters required. You can do this easy thigh-slimming move right in your office or at home. Here's how...

Here's a move that you can do right in your office to slim your thighs--and it's such a cinch.

All you need is a sturdy (and full, so there's no slippage) medium-size box or step stool that can support your weight (be sure it's not wobbly; you don't want to get hurt!).

Here's the how to, courtesy of the fitnessy gals over at Shape:
*Stand with right foot on top of a bench or step and left foot on the floor beside it, hands on hips.

*Then, push off right foot and hop to the right, landing with left foot on top of bench and right foot on the floor.

*Hop back to the other side. Continue moving from side to side for 30 seconds.

Easy, right? I'm totally doing this move--like right now.

I found this online at a magazine I regularly got to for fitness tips. But this just seems beyond ridiculous. Are they seriously suggesting that this is a move that can be done at work and not in a gym? How exactly do they think that the average American woman has room in her cubicle to maneuver this move. Or a box that will sustain any person over the age of 2's weight? I mean really, that is your suggestion to replace to bench pictured? A BOX? This all just sounds like a workers comp lawsuit to me.

I think what makes me the most mad, is they are taking a real fitness suggestion from another source and trying to manipulate it so that they can claim it as something new. It's not new, its not original to you. And quite frankly you have made this dangerous. What kind of health and fitness professional are you?

The problem with Victoria's Secret Swimsuit is......

Too much butt!!! Too too TOOOOOO much butt. Now I will cop to the fact that I have a little more junk in my trunk. I'm a little bootylicous, or j-lo style, than one would expect from an Irish girl. But that's okay.

I like to go to the Victoria Secret website and browse through the swimsuit section to stay/get motivated. The problem is every other year or so I forget about the malfunction in the design and inevitably order a suit. Then I get it home and try it on in the safety of my own home. To run around on my tippy toes from mirror to mirror with my hands covering my keester. Which makes no sense since I live alone, but I feel so exposed because as I stated earlier there is just too much butt, and NOT enough fabric. So after the last time I vowed to never make this mistake again. This time I tirelessly poured through the site only to realize.....There is NO "full" butt coverage! Everything is "moderate" back coverage. Umm Hello Victoria's secret I know a lot of your models are from Brazil, but you are an American company. And when I am ordering swimsuit bottoms based on my pant size I can't be the only one this is happening to. From now on this going to be filed under a "you" not "me" problem.

Not Looking good.

Things are a little rough around the tizzy n lish family. Tizzy was supposed to leave NY yesterday with her husby for a wonderful ski vacation before swinging through Chicago for xmas merriment for 2 days then back to NY and the grindstone. After sitting on the plane fore 5 hours pulling away from the gate taxing there were mechanical issues back to the gate to cancel the flight. Because now there are 12 inches on snow on the ground. This is when I get the call in tears. Because of the weather the best they could do is get into Chicago on Monday, leave for ski vacation on Wednesday. So she is trying to book me on the ski vacation too. (she is staying at stylish older sis's Colorado house) I tell her calm down it's fine, you are not leaving me alone. I am having mom over yada yada. Then it takes them 5 more hours to get their baggage and get home. To which they realize the golden boy (who is in NY celebrating his 40th b-day) flight has also now been canceled. And they won't rebook him till WEDNESDAY. In the mean time his three kids are at my mom's house, and he is supposed to be there by 5 pm to celebrate the holidays. Now I am sleeping through all this, but stylish older sister is up worrying on hold/on line trying to do what she can to get people home/out/away. Oh and by the way her 10 year old is up all night with the stomach flu. She is supposed to be at a family party with her in laws by noon, then to my mom's at 5. It's a bumble basically. So now I am sitting with sicky while stylish older sis and her husby divide and conquer the family parties with their unsick kids. Tizzy is still coming through Chicago on Monday. Apparently golden boy got a flight out through Philadelphia tomorrow. I haven't talked to my mom yet but boy there is a lot going on.

Not the best time of year.

I don't know if either of us has mentioned this before but our dad passed away on Christmas. So while the rest of the world, well not world but all other Christians are celebrating the most wonderful time of the year. I am usually trying to keep my emotions in check. They just tend to get out of control and I have no real way of reigning them in. That's where I am at right now. Something happened last night that has me in an anger spiral. I can't get out of it, and that is making me even madder (see the spiral I was speaking of). It's kind of a stupid thing that would have pissed me off any other time of year, but because it happened this week it is like 10 times worse. My anger actually woke me up last night in the middle of the night, just to remind me that yup I am still angry. So now I am angry and tired. I wish I could have stayed home from work, brought a bed pillow and my duvet on the couch and just watched stupid TV all day. But I couldn't today is my works x-mas lunch. Apparently my boss gets really sensitive and acts like a baby when people miss company parties so I had to come in for it. Which of course it making me even madder. The only thing that is slightly helping is the fact that we did FINALLY get a yummiest basket at work and I am eating dark choco covered graham crackers.

This is getting a weeee bit expensive

As I mentioned before I have been done x-mas shopping since the weekend of Thanksgiving. Small problem this leaves me with. Time to go shopping for myself. It seems like every time I turn around I am buying myself a little something something. Not good. I need to pull the reigns in on this pronto. Everything just seems like such a deal, and a definite NEED at the time. Problem being last night I realized my closet it packed to the gills. Sure some of it is summer stuff I could put away, but really not THAT much. I hate having to give myself the money/shopping talk.

Dear blog - 

Oh how I have missed you.  No, it's not you.  It's me.  Working tons these last 2 weeks plus Golden Boy is coming in town to celebrate his 40th (more on that tomm) and we are escaping the city slickster lifestyle for a winter wonderland on Saturday. Which can not come soon enough for me or my husband.


Thank goodness for Lish.  (You don't know how many times I've uttered that phrase in my life) She makes me laugh every day.

I've been thinking about you and will absolutely catch up in the next day or two.  Things should get much easier once I close my eyes for a long winter's slumber tonight.

Thank you for understanding.  You're the best.  Can't wait to catch up.

BFF - 

xoxoxo
Tizzy

Pick a winner!

That is handwritten on the back of the picture in our banner. It makes me die laughing whenever I look at that picture, cause if you look you will notice Tizzy picking her wedgie. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHHAHAHAHHAAAAAAAAAHAHAHHAH

I am pretty sure Stylish older sister wrote it. She would have 11-12 at the time, so it seems about right. Although I think she would write that today so it more just seems like her personality. But what if it was our mom who wrote it. Wouldn't that be hilarious!

PS: Tizzy has been super busy, and frustrated this week. She may not have time to post, lots going on. She actually got yelled at by a cab driver on Monday and told to get out of the cab. That's rough, she is clearly did not take the advise on the back of the picture. That cab was not a winner.

T-minus 9 days

Seriously Christmas is 9 days away!!!! What has the heck happened to this year? Doesn't it seem like an odd December? I can't believe it, there is so much to do. I am hosting the family x-mas this year. Well not the whole family there are only going to be 5 adults including myself, as opposed to the norm of 9 adults and 6 kids. Long boring story. Anyway I have things to do for this, that I feel like I should be doing now. But then that's not true. If I were to grocery shop now for it, the veggies would go bad by then. If I were to do the deep clean, it would just need to be re-cleaned by then. I'm getting antsy to get a move on with this, but there is nothing to move on. Christmas is coming too quickly and slowly all at the same time.

This recession blows!

Here it is December 15th, and my work has gotten not one x-mas treat basket. What's going on? Where is the Carmel corn, the chocolate covered what-nots, the assortment boxes of yumminess? I can only think of one answer.....The RECESSION. Companies are scaling back. And in "theory" I agree that there should not be holiday parties, or Christmas bonuses if people are getting laid-off. But right now I need sugar, and I am wondering where are all the treats that I would no doubt regret eating?

I got sat on....AGAIN

I have only been taking public transportation on a regular basis for a mere 5 months. In that time I have been sat on by other passengers TWICE. This seems excessive to me. Or maybe I am the only one outraged enough to talk about it.

The first time was unbelievable....Truly unbelievable. It was at about 7-7:30 pm. Not rush hour so the train was at least 1/3 if not 1/2 empty. I am sitting in a seat near the doors, not really paying attention since my stop wasn't for a while, when the next thing a know a women reading her book tries to take the seat next to me, but ends up in my lap instead. The best part about this is she mumbles something in her under breath and slides into the seat next to me. SHE DOESN'T EVEN APOLOGIZE. Not only that, she doesn't even acknowledge that she just sat on my lap. She just continues reading her book the whole way home. I couldn't believe it. No sorry, no embarrassed laugh, nothing. And the best part is she was reading one of those really stupid books, like Harry Potter, or Twilight or something. I mean come on you can't be that into it, that you don't realize you sat on someone.

This morning was the second incident. Our train was randomly stopped for signal clearing, it wasn't at a station, just stopped in between two. The women standing with her back to me, let go of the pole to get her bag, then when the trained started running again she went flying backwards quickly into my lap. I hit my head on the window, there was some real force behind it. She did acknowledge that she was in my lap, and apologized. I could see how this one happened, when you are randomly stopped there is no announcement, or beep, or signal of any kind to let you know when the train will start moving again. But here is the weird part, she didn't get off the train at the next stop, or even the one after that. So I am still left wondering why she felt the need to pick up her bag, and come flying into my lap.

Hooray for you!!!

Today is one of Tizzy & Lish's very best, best friends birthday.

This is a girl who we are lucky to have in our lives.

She is the type of friend that every person needs.

In our posse of girls - she is our mother-bear.

Always has been.

I can't begin to count how many times this girl has helped me out.

She is a great partner-in-crime.

She is always there to listen.

She is a good person to have your back.

She won't let people mess with you.
She is our number one fan and is often cheering us on.

It is not an overstatement to say that we (T&L) would be lost without her.

A birthday alone is very exciting.

But this beautiful woman is also a bride-to-be.

How happy and honored we are to stand with her as she prepares for her wedding.

She deserves all the love and happiness and much much much much more.

Happy, Happy Birthday!!!!
WE LOVE YOU!!!
xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo

Tizzy N' Lish