Every song on the radio

You know when you're in that goofy phase of a crush or in the deepest depths of heartache and things sort of just speak to you???
Like every song on the radio makes you think of things...
Obviously my newest obsession TV show is Washington Heights (like I mentioned before).
And this last episode ughhhhhhhhh totally spoke to me.
I told you how the episode before two friends for years hooked up.

And the girl approached the boy about how she felt.
And it is EXACTLY how I feel about ummm a certain boy.
After crappy small talk and her trying to just spit it out she finally gets into it.

"its just like ...there's this ummm...what's the word?
for lack of  a better term... like vulnerability
and you ...not that you're not complete within yourself 
because you are and that's like what makes me want to pick your brain so much about stuff
there's like a little me shaped hole... 
somewhere in there
and I'd love to fill that space...
I feel like it would be a lot easier to do it as your friend 
but it would be a lot more fun to do it as more...
you know...you follow?"

And it just SPOKE to me.
I totally get that.
It's what I'm thinking about my classmate from New Years...
Except without actually saying or doing anything about it.
I'm cool just continuing to be his friend but it sure would be a heck of a lot more fun being more.

The couple from the show and clearly the classmate is just like him...super good looking, cool dresses well and I can't be the obvious grinning infatuated girl...sigh...pic from here

And I know what I should (and what I am) doing CLEARLY is trying to forget about the classmate.
But some things just make me think about him.
Darn it.

"If you really love Christmas..."

So I finally took Friday night to take down my Christmas tree while I watched movies and trashy TV in the background...like I said my newest obsession Washington Heights...and oh my goodness the last episode had friends for years hooking up...and maaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe it made me think of New Years Eve lol.

Moving on lol.
So time to take down the Christmas tree.
Not sure if you remember last years post.

I shared some Christmas ornaments.
So I thought I would share some more.

This fun red beaver...to honour Taylor's 2nd Trip to Toronto!

We wrote all our adventures on the back!
You can read about that trip here.

This is the fun angel Laurel gave me this year!

Two of my favourite things...Keys and Fleur de Lis
I changed the ribbon on my tree to a fun preppy plaid and I LOVED it!

This little one was for my dog (gosh I miss him dearly).

A gifted paddle as I used to help out with a Dragon Boat team when I lived in Singapore.

This ornament...well MrRealtor bullied me into getting an ornament with him once I told him of my tradition of picking ornaments for special times/memories/travel...and he insisted on getting one when we went wine tasting once.  He didn't take the hint when I didn't hang it on my tree.  So he did one day without me realizing...super annoying.  But don't have to worry about that anymore.

Last year's Christmas post.

And I'm not sure if you remember my yearly goals I had in for 2011.
And I didn't reveal my 2012 goals...
Until now.
As you recall I keep it in a special ornament (see last years post above!).

So here they were...

So how did I do?

Definite Fail at the first and second one.
I think I passed the third one.
The fourth goal was a sort of pass.  I had more romance but love...well not so much.
I super passed goal five with Eight Trips (all the USA but that still counts as out of the country right???
Trip #1 NYC, Trip#2 Buffalo, Trip #3 Florida, Trip #5 Chicago, Trip#6 Dallas, Trip #7 Ann Arbor, Trip #8 Florida
And the sixth and final goal...fail...oh how I dream of the Burberry Trench...one day.

So 2013...what will it be?

I'm setting my goals right now and am definitely open to suggestions :)

So with that..."if you really love Christmas, come on and let it snow"  Billy Hack ~ Love Actually

A fantastic New Year's Eve

This New Year's Eve was epic y'all.
Oh my goodness when I think about it I turn into a puddle of giddiness.
Seriously amazing!
I'm getting way ahead of myself.

For starters it almost didn't happen.
The car rental I had set up through carrentals.com when I arrived to pick up my car at 3pm I pulled up to an closed rental agency...they closed at 1pm.
I almost began hyperventilating at the perspective of not getting to go.
I needed the escape.

Luckily there was a Hertz a few doors down that had an available option.
So before I knew I was cruising on down I-95 to Miami.
With the sound out and the music playing I already felt a ton better.

So it was great because I got to go see one of my classmates from graduate school.
I hadn't seen him since we graduated five years ago.
And it was just like old times.
We had always got along great at school often studying and hanging out together.

I arrived at his brother's place and got to meet his brother's lovely wife and their adorable little girl.
We were hanging out and chatting because he had just hopped in the shower.
When he came out he was so sweet he was like you look JUST like you did in school...these years have been great to you.
And they had certainly been great to him...he was tanned and toned and making me crack up as usual.

We first headed out to grab a quick sub and catch up on each other's lives.
Then we headed over to one of his good friends homes.
It was a beautiful backyard party.
With a fire pit, blankets and pillows, and 6 large wrought iron candelabras on which they placed candles in mason jars.
It was beautiful and perfect.

So we settled into a night of a great time.
Drinking, eating and doing crazy things like walking around the block with suitcases as this is supposed to bring travels in the new year.

Staying up all night until it was time to head back to his brother's place to crash.
I'm not even sure how it happened.
Maybe it was my sexy pajamas of yoga pants and a t-shirt (obviously I'm being sarcastic).
But the next thing I knew we were kissing.
Kissing a lot.
Kissing until 9:30am.

Then we headed out to the porch to hang out and chat and not wake up anyone.
And the hangover started creeping in.
And I started getting nervous.
Not only was my hair was a mess and my makeup no longer existent...but would this be weird?
We never had been in this position before...nothing like this had ever happened in graduate school.
Was I destined to have the same let's not make this awkward conversation with him like Will?!

We decided to change into some beach ware and head to the beach.
And I tried not to look like such an awful mess.
And as he drove he reached across and grabbed my hand.
And my stomach did butterflies.

And the little things...giggling as he brought my hand up to kiss it.
We pulled up to the beach and decided it would be a good thing to grab more drinks.
And joined people at the bar that clearly never left the bar.

Girls in shiny mini dresses or belly baring crop tops and long flowey skirts.
And we ordered drinks and chatted about things.
He told me no one paid any attention to him in graduate school whereas I was the prettiest girl in the class...and my face flushed.
I told him he was always this good looking and girls would have gone after him more but he seemed to be not serious and just enjoying his single self at the time.

And he would do things like lean over and tell me to kiss him.
And I was only too happy to oblige.
Leaning back into the sun thinking...oh my goodness this is my life.
I swear I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.
Especially when he would lean over and say things like, "you're really beautiful Teagan".

After a few cocktails we headed to the beach hand in hand.
He spread out a beach blanket and we hung out for a bit.
He convinced me to take a dip in the ocean.
Winking at me as he said, you'll have to take that green dress off though.
And I cringed a little as I did and hoped he didn't notice my cellulite.
As he took off his shirt and I stared...damn he's handsome.

We ran into the water giggling like teenagers.
Jumping in the waves before he pulled me against him.
Making out as the waves hit us and just laughing.
Headed out to dry in the sun and making out on the beach blanket like a couple of 16 year olds.
Him telling me he'd like to do a whole lot more of what we did a few hours before.
And the rest of the afternoon flew by.

Pic from here

I was disappointed when the day flew by and all of a sudden it came to the end.
As we headed to his brother's house.
We hung out on the porch a little...kissed a little more.
And as he walked me to my car he pulled me in for just one more.

I drove back to my parent's place just over the moon happy.
Best new year's eve in a very long time.
Could he turn into a MrGradschool?
I try not to let myself hope too much...because it's impossible really.

He did text me last night with a "hey Teagan-have a safe trip back to Canada.  Let's keep in touch!  It was great to see you! :)"
I replied as casually as I could with a "Sounds great.  I had a great time :)"
Nothing will probably happen...but is it bad that the littlest part of me is hoping it does?

My 3rd Annual YouTube Rewind!

I love the silliness and trendiness of the YouTube Rewind every year!
Here if you missed 2011.
Enjoy!

My 3rd Annual Zeitgeist Review

I love reviewing things that have happened, like when I posted the video in 2011 and 2010.
These reviews I always love because they make you realize how much can happen in a year.
And just how trivial some of my "problems" are.

Last year I asked if 2012 would be everything I hoped for and dreamed of? Not really.
But different then 2011 and easier than 2010.
The birthday curse seems to have been lifted.
I'm excited to see what 2013 has in store for me even if it isn't what I "want".
Here's hoping.

A little ditty

One of my favourite New Year's Eve songs with two of my favourite people.
Seriously they are so adorable
Enjoy!

Christmas Decor

I know it is about that time when all the Christmas decor comes down.
Due to shear laziness mine will not come down until next weekend.
But I thought while my apartment was semi presentable I would share with you how I decorate my little place for the holidays.

To me when I hear bells I think Christmas.

So I put a few of these around the house.

Made even better with a bow!



In my entrance a lighted reindeer welcomes you.

I got this little guy from Target years ago.

On the other side of the mirror is my large nutcracker.

I think he is also a Target find. 

I like to hide little touches of Christmas throughout my apartment.

Like this little nutcracker.

Who I think was a gift from Jim's mom actually (one of the ExBoyfriends).

I like how this golden sparkly tree fits right in with my jewelry on my dresser.

It was a gift from Quinn years ago.

Christmas Tea Towels.

I would not get this kind again because when you wash them the little applique and waffling don't mix and these seem very wrinkly but I'm obviously not OCD enough to iron them.

This chubby little Santa is from Homesense.

I love having a holiday scent.

So this Red Apple Wreath Candle is just perfect!

This cute little guy sits on my windowsill.

He is another Homesense find.

In Toronto we obviously did NOT have a white Christmas and I'm certainly not complaining.

My mum got this for me this year.

I guess I would describe it as a crystal lighted gift with a perfect bow. 

The fleur de lis is obviously my favourite part.

My Christmas tree.

This guy is a Walmart special from Dallas.

And you can see my shakeyourbooty dancing Santa on my entertainment stand thingy.

Another view of the tree.

As you can see I take the mutlicoloured mix and match approach.

In the future I have two types of other trees I want to get.

But those are a surprize in the works for future years.

So now I can let you in on a little thing that I do.

If you've been reading a long time I've talked about it before.

I collect Christmas ornaments.

But not the usual.

I like to gather them when I travel.

Sometimes it is something that isn't a Christmas ornament but I make it into one.

That way when I put up my tree I revisit fun memories of travel and friends.

I thought it would be fun to highlight just a few of my favs and what they mean to me.

The wooden bird.

This was a party favour from my friend Laurel's holiday party I attended.

It makes me smile and know that it is worth it to put yourself out there to make great new friends.

This gecko I got on my first solo trip to Bali, Indonesia.

My grandma brought me back this from Florida years ago.

It pays homage to my cheerleading past (though I've never used poms), my love for Disney, and my high school colours of blue and gold.

This is the key and heart keychain that Val brought me back from thier honeymoon to Rome.

Perfect because it is a key.

It gives me inspiration to one day travel there hopefully with the person I love.

I got this amazing ornament when I attended the 500th University of Michigan game with my best friend Will.  The weekend was incredible and we just had the best time.

Plus the Wolverines came back from being down like a 19-0 to win the game.

I wore by blue and gold proudly that day.

I'm dying to go back for another game...maybe next year with Will?

This ornament I got during my trip to see Sophie (you can read about it hear if you missed it).

I got this ornament when I crossed something off my bucket list....which was to see The Nutcracker at Christmas time.  I did this in California during the Christmas season of 2005.

Now this ornament is special to me becuase it's meaning has changed.

I originally got it during an interesting weekend in July of 2008.

But when I look at it now all I think of was a simply incredible life changing trip of December 2008.

A trip filled with the best memories of my best friend.

From a limo at the airport waiting for us, to the awe of our room, to sitting in an empty jacuzzi tub in robes eating chocolate covered strawberries and drinking a cocktail in the dark, a trip to in&out burger with some funny conversations, the self-imposed camera ban,  48 hours with maybe 5 hours of sleep and both of us needing that weekend so badly.  I can't even describe the feeling of that weekend and how perfect it was.

When I hang this ornament that is what I think of and I smile.

In fact I almost don't want to return to Vegas because I feel like nothing can top that memory of that city.

This furry little guy is from the Night Safari you can take in Singapore.

Part of it makes me think of Spencer because we did that together.

But part of it is simply something Singapore is know for so I'm okay with it.

Just like I'm growing to be okay with what happened with Spencer.

This dancing from is from a trip to New Orleans in May of 2007.

What a drama DRAMA filled weekend.

My goodness.

I'm not sure I would have kept sane without two of my besties Taylor and Erin.

Seriously thank goodness for those two.

My first time snowboarding in Breckenridge with 9 of my classmates from graduate school in December of 2006.

What a great few days.

Snowboarding and hanging out in a small ski town.

I actually really fell in love with the place.

I suppose the house we rented with the hot tub on the deck didn't hurt.

See this sort of no big deal golden egg one that looks a little old.

No one usually notices it but it's special.

Because it's open and since last year I started hiding something in it.

Can you see?

And if you think this idea is original.

It's totally not.

I stole it completely from OneTreeHill (big shocker).

You see besties Lucas and Hailey would write their wishes and bury them behind a loose brick of Karen's Cafe.

I can't find an actual screenshot to show you so you will have to trust me on this one.

So without further ado here I go with my wishes!

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

I write my wishes....

You see they aren't goals.

When I wote them last year they seemed to silly and too frivolous and almost too lofty or unachievable at the time to be actual goals.

And I really couldn't remember what I wrote last year...

So here they are...

I wrote in my results for you.

There is something I relish about checking things off a list...

I'm going to continue this tradition...

Here's a sneak peak at next year.

But you will have to wait for my reveal in 2013.

After all if you tell someone your wish it may not come true!