...and make our garden grow...

I've gotten a lot of work done on my garden! I still feel like it's kinda bare--it's hard because it'll take until long after we've moved away for it to fully fill in. BUT I'm very happy with the progress of in-ground perennials. I think I just need to pot up some brighter (but obviously still shade-loving) annuals to add some peeks of color. I've been trying to select plants (and planters) that pop against the dark brick of the building, and this also means they'll show up nicely when they're in shadow.

I'm limited not only by the few shade (and clay soil) loving plants available, but also by the simple fact that we rent, and some of the scrubby ugly bushes we inherited we will just have to work around. If this were our own house, I'd rip all those hideous shrubs out of there and replace them with some nice ground cover, add in taller plants in the back, perhaps plant a small dwarf-type tree (one that reaches about 6 feet or so fully grown), and the go nuts with hostas and the other purple-leaved plants you'll see below. But since I can't rip it all out and start over, there's a healthy dose of "Just deal with it" here. Tis a tough pill to swallow, though.

Anyway. I'm happy with the progress, but not ready to call it done yet. Below are some pics of where things started this spring (the two hostas I put down last year are back but still filling in and opening up). And the sad wispy green leaves you see in the "before" of the end garden shot is a failed tulip bulb. Poor thing just doesn't get enough light to do anything more than sprout leaves and then feebly flop over.

Here you go:

This year's new additions:

 

Full garden view, before:

Full garden view, as it is now:

Section one, before:

Section one, at present:

Section two, before:

Section two, at present:

End garden, before (see that sad little green clump?):

 End garden, at present (this is my favorite transformation, as it's the most changed):

 And finally, this little guy is the centerpiece on our dining room table!

More to come, but I hope you can appreciate the difference. Look how nice the soil looks in the "afters." I tilled it all up before I put down the new plantings. Ahhh.

Onward and Springward!

Vacation Countdown:

Las Vegas: 86 days
Key West: 117 days
Ireland: 180 days

Also looking forward to the beginning of Princeton summer (aka June 6--Commencement is on the 5), and daytripping to John's and my official beach, Ocean City, NJ. I intend to be nice and bronze by the time we're down in the Keys! Well, bronze for my ghostly pale standards. haha

Also on the docket: My brother graduates from Camden County College with his Associates Degree in Business Management; John's cousin graduates from Virginia Tech; John's brother graduates from Raritan High School and begins preparations to attend William Paterson University. So much to celebrate between our families.

We also, of course, have Baby Boy Branin's arrival to look forward to, so some shopping at Babies R Us is in store.

With 2012 turning out to be such an exciting year, I'm thinking about how flat 2013 looks! haha Hope to get in a trip or two (Monterey Bay Aquarium? Harry Potter World?), and also to start really getting our ducks in a row for house-hunting.

For now, I'm simply looking forward to working on/in my garden this week. We finally had some soaking rain today, which means I can manipulate the soil--plan to put in 3 more hostas in the corner, and will also do some container gardening once caladiums are out and about. John also wants to get in some NJ native plants, and mentioned ferns as a nice ground cover option, so we'll see to add to the landscape bit by bit. I'm also eager to find a nice solar lantern to hand on the other side of my double Shepard's hook. It's currently home to a bird feeder (which keeps Hammy very entertained!), but I'd like something else we can leave out year-round--think of how cute the lantern would look illuminating a snowy yard. : )

As far as indoor gardening, I'm thinking I'd really like a succulent garden to perhaps adorn the dining room table as a centerpiece. Did some reading on their needs, and I think they'll do well. We shall see.

Until next time, stay tuned for more news and more pictures as I begin to work.

Land of a Thousand Welcomes

And here it is, a little look at John's and my vacation to Ireland in October. But first, a little background into how it all came together.

For those who know me, I've always been an Irish girl at heart, and since I can remember having a dream destination, that destination has been Ireland. I have, of course, lived my life accepting it was little more than a pie-in-the-sky dream. My desire to make it a reality was kicked into overdrive in tandem with my name change. I realized part of the stress I was feeling was over the loss of my readily-identifiable heritage that the name of Egan implied. Several of the people I'd encounter would comment on what a "beautiful Irish name" I had (while also questioning how my English middle name, Elizabeth, got in the mix), and one gentleman even nicknamed me his Galway girl, as a song apparently exists about the dark-haired beauties of Galway, Ireland. (I don't pretend to take credit for the beauty part, but dark-haired is certainly accurate enough.)

It made me sad to think I was losing that. Of course, another third of my heritage is Italian (the third is Danish, if you're curious), so I'm not sad that Riggi points me in that direction. But still, I felt like I was losing a link to a part of my lineage. Total overthinking, I know, but just roll with it.

And so I started researching places to go, things to do, and travel to/within Ireland. Again, if you know me, this became overwhelming in a short amount of time, and I again wrote it off as a pipe dream. Then John and I stumbled across a presentation at AAA on their Ireland vacation packages. Why not go? John had been hinting at a first anniversary gift of paper, in the form of plane tickets, though we never really talked about actual destinations.

We attended the presentation, and I sat there with actual tears pricking my eyes because for the first time ever, I realized we can do this. There were even great discounts and incentives offered for booking by the end of March. We took our planning tools home and thought about it long and hard. Checked departure dates, air lines, and which itineraries fit both financial and vacation-time budgets.

I'm am still pinching myself when I remember we're actually going. For 8 days. And what's exciting and comforting is that we don't have to worry about anything while we're over there. Our group tour package includes in it all of our lodging, meals, activities, and travel. All we need to do is buy lunch or snacks, souveniers, and parse out some Euros for tipping along the way. Add to that, of course, get passports, get some AC adapter converters, and various other vacation to-dos, and we pretty much just need to show up.

Here's a short summary of what we'll be up to on our adventure:

Arrive in Dublin, Ireland

Welcome to Dublin! At 2 p.m. begin a city tour. Visit St. Patrick’s Cathedral and walk the courtyards of Trinity College to its library and world treasure, the 8th century Book of Kells. This evening, join your Travel Director and fellow travelers for a Welcome Dinner with wine.

Dublin / The Midlands / Ballina

Cross midland Ireland and visit Strokestown Park House. This grand 18th-century estate still has its original furnishings. The Famine Museum, designed to commemorate The Great Irish Famine of the 1840s, is located in the former stable yards of the house. Continue on to County Mayo to visit the Shrine at Knock. Finally head to your hotel in the town of Ballina, set on the River Moy.

Ballina / Connemara

Travel to the picturesque town of Westport, then on to Connemara, Ireland’s historic western province, with its whitewashed cottages, mountains and rivers. Visit Kylemore Abbey, a neo-Gothic mansion, occupied since 1920 by Irish Benedictine nuns. This evening, relax at your elegant hotel on Galway Bay.

Connemara / Galway / Cliffs of Moher / Killarney

This morning visit Galway Cathedral before dropping in for refreshments at Rathbaun Farm. Then travel west to the spectacular Cliffs of Moher, rising 700 feet above the pounding Atlantic waves. Later, take the Tarbert Ferry across the Shannon estuary and continue on to Killarney.

Ring of Kerry Excursion

Travel the road that winds around the beautiful Iveragh Peninsula, better known as the Ring of Kerry. Stopping at Torc Waterfall, there is a chance to join a leisurely guided hike. You walk along the lakeshore and past the farmlands of the Muckross Estate. For those who do not want to join the hike, the motorcoach will return you to Killarney. The rest of the day is free.

Killarney / Blarney / Waterford

Stop at Blarney Castle and perhaps kiss the famous stone that bestows the gift of eloquence. There’s time to shop at the Blarney Woolen Mills, then on to Waterford. Visit the House of Waterford Crystal for an interesting visual journey of over 225 years of glassmaking.

Waterford / Dublin

Meet local Jack Burtchaell and hear about a gallery of rogues and rascals, all delivered in an entertaining style by a master storyteller. Then, return to Dublin. Make a stop at the Guinness Storehouse and discover what goes into making a pint of Guinness. Your evening is free.

It all looks so amazing, and I'm grateful for this opportunity. I realize how lucky we are to take this trip, and I fully intend to soak up every second possible and glue those memories in my mind. 2012 is indeed the year of making dreams come true. We've booked and made the dream come true, now we need only to wait a few months to live it. I've never seen a sunrise. Maybe I'll have the chance while we're over there.

And may the odds...

...be ever in your favor.




John and I met Jeanette and Dianna for breakfast this morning, then we headed to the theater to finally watch The Hunger Games played out on the big screen. Because breakfast didn't take nearly as long as we expected, we got to the theater 2 hours early, and camped out in line on the floor for an hour until then let us in. We were, appropriately, in the crowd watching the movie in theater 12. : ) Awesome.

I won't go into a dissection of the movie versus the book because I'm too lazy, but I will simply say that I did enjoy it, and I think they handled it very well for the most part. I was also correct in thinking I would A) always love the book more and B) be slightly disappointed in a few of the adaptations. I'm looking forward to seeing it again, as I'm sure there was plenty that I missed in my general excitement at the day finally being here. Eagerly anticipating the release of Catching Fire next fall!

Also, as I'm still feeling lazy, I will come back next week sometime to tell you all about our trip to Ireland this October! It'll be a few weeks early, but we're translating paper as first anniversary gift to mean plane tickets, and we're hopping the pond to the land of Blarney and banshees.

Until then...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Happy St. Paddy's day, everyone! Hope you're all feeling a little luckier and enjoying some great food, drink, and company! John and I had lunch at our favorite local Irish watering hole, Dubh Linn Square, and we have a beef stew in the crock for dinner. I made a soda bread earlier this week (but like a loser forgot to add the raisins, so it's a bit naked) as well as two Killian's beer breads. Yummm!

I first want to write and say how excited John and I are for the impending arrival of Baby Branin this August! We were tickled that Jon and Marisa came over to tell us in person Wednesday night. How strange to have entered the phase where many of our friends are married or getting married, and now we are starting to add children to our wolf pack (insert Alan's speech from The Hangover here...). We're thrilled to be Auntie Maureen and Uncle John. : )

Also in baby news, we get to meet little Odin, my cousin's now-two-month-old when we peace out to Vegas for a week this summer. I will never get enough of rubbing it in my Aunt Debbie's face that she's a grandma. haha Looking forward to picking out a fun little gift to bring him.

Currently, we are watching March Madness and John is on the floor soaking up Hammy snuggles. All the windows are open and Hammy's been going from windowsill to windowsill all day enjoying the sights, sounds, and, mostly, the smells. I'm pleased to report that Hammy is feeling better. Two weeks ago he went for his check-up and shots, and they discovered he had a very mild UTI as well as some crystals present in his urine. So a round of antibiotics and a re-check showed the infection was gone, but there were still some crystals. Thankfully, they are very microscopic and even with the UTI, it was caught so early he wasn't even showing any signs of not feeling well. We're glad that treatment for crystals is a simple change in food. Albeit slightly more expensive food, but he's been eating it up (I was worried he'd be like, "Uhm, what is this slop, woman?) with no trouble, and we'll see in 2 months if we've successfully eliminated the crystals.

John and I have some exciting travel plans in the making, but I won't report on that til it's carved in, ahem, stone and booked. We've told a few family and friends of the plans, but will be excited to share it here so everyone can see where we're going and what we'll be doing. So STAY TUNED!

This coming week is spring break at Princeton (John enjoyed his this past week--yay for having him home every night!), and I'm taking some much-overdue vacation time. Most of it is self-maintenance--a few doc appts., etc., and some of it is fun. I'll spend a day with Mom, and John's taking a day off, too, and he even booked us each a massage at the Wellness Center of Bordentown, the owner of which I got to know while I wasn't working. I got Mom a massage there last spring as a birthday gift, and she thoroughly enjoyed it. I've never had a massage, so I'm looking forward to checking it off the list of dreams to make come true in 2012.

Tomorrow the bestie and I are heading to Flemington for afternoon tea at Teaberry's, my latest obsession. Oooh, what kind of tea will I have?! Anxiety! Then it's a short 2-day workweek for me, and Saturday brings the premier of The Hunger Games! John and I are meeting my the other 2/3 of my three musketeers from work for breakfast and we'll then go settle in and watch the movie together. Pictures below from the tee-shirt making party we had to make custom garb to wear to the premier. Then Sunday is brunch at Laurita winery with John, and a return to normalcy.



But spring is coming (free Rita's water ice on the 20, folks!), and with it the promise of Commencement on campus and a quiet, slow, glorious summer. This year, Steve Carrell is speaking at Class Day, and I'm So. Excited. My office coordinates the event each year, and I'm stoked I may actually get a semi-run-in with the man himself. Gonna be awesome.

Also, on a different note, thank you to all who have kept me and my family in your thoughts and prayers lately as my grandmother's health declines. It means so much to have such a strong support system beneath me.

That's all for now. I hope to write again later this week with some updates, and hopefully pictures.

Lots of love.

Just Updates

My birthday and Valentine's Day have come and gone, and so, too, has February. I can't believe we're on the verge of Leap Day already!

Valentine's Day also brought about John's and my 7-year anniversary as a couple. Now that we have our wedding anniversary to celebrate, Vday/anny has taken a back seat, but it's still nice to celebrate in a small way and acknowledge how much has changed since we first got together all those years ago.

I had a hearing that night (boo) and John had class (double boo), so I went out to dinner with a friend, who's significant other was also not around. It was nice to be in good company, even if it wasn't with the people we truly wanted to be with. John and I celebrated early the previous Friday by going to a winery tour and wine tasting at Valanzano's Winery in Shamong. It was nice, and the wines were yummy. We each got small bottle to take home, and we bought a bottle of their sangria to have with our 20-pound turkey and 9 house guests that weekend.

I also celebrated by baking some fun cookies, seen below, while Hubby was in class that Monday night. I had had the squirrel cookie cutter for a few years, and John got me the acorn one as art of my bday gift in January. I packed some away for my best gals at work, and made John a special little package of them for a sweet treat to take to class on Vday.


And now I'm here, cuddled on the couch with little kitten. He had a vet check up today, just his annual exam and vaccinations, but it was discovered that he has a very very mild UTI as well as some tiny crystals in his urine. They're not sure if the crystals are due to the infection, or if it's the very first onset of a prolonged crystal problem that unfortunately is common in cats. He's got 2 weeks of antibiotics to take, and then a re-check and we'll see. If they're gone, then it was likely due to the infection and we'll just have to keep a special eye out for them in the future. If they're still there, then treatment simply means changing up his food to help prevent them. Sigh. Otherwise, though, he's the very picture of health. He's happy as a clam to be home, and just seems his usual self. Waiting til John gets home to give him the meds, though, as I had failed attempts at doing it myself earlier.

As March and spring approach, I'm thinking about my garden, about Commencement at Princeton, and about summer, which will bring John's and my triumphant return to Las Vegas when we visit my aunt and uncle for a week in July. Gonna. Be. Awesome.

Also looking ahead we have a few family birthdays, I have some teas to look forward to with various girlfriends, and John and I have a brunch at Laurita winery at the end of March. I do loves me some brunch!

With that, fair friends, I leave you until next time. Hopefully it won't be as long a lag! Sorry about that.

Oh, yeh...PS: countdown to Hunger Games is now less than a month! I already got our tickets, and we're having a tee-shirt making party next week with some fellow friends/fans in preparation for opening weekend. Oh, yeh!

What I DIDN'T Say Yes To

So now that the wedding is just shy of 3 months behind us (already?), I thought it'd be fun to take a look at the dresses that turned out not to be the one. While it was a fun afternoon of playing dress up, I was glad to have settled on the one that was surely calling my name. I had such a great experience with David's Bridal in Deptford, I even sent a thank you to my consultant because she was so caring and considerate, not only of me, but of Mom and Tara as well. She was sure to make it a special experience for them, too.

First, we'll start with the dress I fell in love with in a magazine, and was the whole point of my starting the search at David's. It had a halter neckline, gathering and detail at the waist, and a nice A-line skirt. How could I go wrong? When we got there, I shoved the picture in the consultant's face, and off she went. The store had only one left, and it was only a size larger than I needed. I quickly put it on, and stormed out to gaze upon myself in the wall of mirrors. It was the first wedding dress to touch my skin, and it was the one I had been fantasizing about for months prior. I was in love! On a scale of 1 to 10, I declared it an 11! Then, however, as I began looking closer, I saw that maybe it wasn't the best choice. Among other things, I had it on for about 5 minutes and the halter strap was already beginning to chafe my neck. In any event, this wasn't the one. Slightly heartbreaking, but I had other dresses to try.

Next came another dress that I had seen in a magazine and torn out. I guess you could call it my second choice contender. It was simple but very pretty, and perhaps its best feature was that it was all lace, which I had recently (and rather unexpectedly) fallen in love with. This one crept up on me, and pretty much as soon as I walked out, we all knew it was the one. Yes, this was the dress that marked November 5 as the beginning of my married life. I even later bought the very veil that I tried on with it.

High on lace and straplessness, there were three more options. This one was a marriage of the first two dresses: lace, but with a halter neckline. It seemed that each dress I put on got heavier and the train got longer! This one had a lot of beadwork and a rather long train. It was probably my second favorite of the bunch after all was said and done, but I was just a little concerned about the super long train, the halter getting scratchy, and the weight of it getting uncomfortable sooner rather than later. But very elegant, nonetheless, eh?

This was a dress I requested, as something different, but again, totally not the look for me. No cupcake dresses here. I spent the least amount of time in this one.

Last up was a pick purely for fun, chosen by the consultant. It was a kind of palate cleanser, as it was so different than the rest. Yes, the princess dress! It surely was fun, and I entertained the other patrons by parading around and curtseying and waving like I was the bloody queen of England. Definitely not the look I was going for.

After the princess dress, I shimmied back into the #1 choice just to be sure, and not too long after I was walking out of the store with the dress triumphantly hoisted over my head in its garment bag, bound for Mom and Dad's house for safe- (and secret-) keeping.

And here you are, a few snaps of the dress from The Big Day, courtesy of our photographer, Pamela Paraison. I think you'll agree it was the right decision. : )