they say you're a product of your environment

Is it true? I live in Indianapolis, and I'm not a Colts fan. I spent 10 years in Atlanta, and I'm not a Falcons fan. Oh, but if we go back, way back, to where it all began... I'm a New England Patriots AND New York Giants fan.


They say you can't be both (and by "they" I mean mainly my husband). But I grew up cheering for both.


The Giants because my Mom (well, really my Aunt Pam) were fans, and the Pats because my Dad's a diehard fan. My birth certificate says New York, but my childhood memories are New Hampshire.


And now they're head-to-head again for the big throw-down. I've gotta pick the Pats over the Giants, but let's face it—either way, I won't be crying in my brewski.

you know you're getting older when...

This song comes on the radio, gets turned all the way up, and you're thinking they just don't make music like they used to. Check out the hair at :37.

super bowl starts now

You know how hard it is to concentrate on an average Friday afternoon. What makes it harder is when there's a Super Bowl party happening right outside your office. If the bass was any louder, my desk would be shaking.

real google reviews

Please read post number two below, a review of the Wendy's in downtown Indy. Can't make this shit up...

room with a view

Our guest room is lovingly called "the dungeon." No light, no sound, no windows. Sleeping in there, you don't know if it's midnight or noon.

In an attempt to make it more cheerful, I picked a very bright, bold color (Orange Sherbet). I also hung a false window, complete with curtains. 


Ryan thinks it's a bit ridiculous. I think it's imaginative. And aren't those really just two sides of the same coin?

very bright. but better than boring.

found the chalkboard decal here at world market.

peekaboo. reused some curtains from
my old apartment.

representing my new hampshire roots
with a vintage pennant. 

photo on canvas. one of my all-time favorite
shots taken by my brother trey.

when i found this guy, he was
wooden with a cracked brown seat.
i recovered him in beige vinyl,
added a coat of white paint,
and he's a whole new chair.

scored this end table on the cheap at
a local antique store.

my dad salvaged this from a
neighbor's trash pile, scrubbed it down
and fixed it up with a new glass shade.

february '55

In Massachusetts, on a cold winter day in 1955, Barbara Ann Bernard married Ralph Angelo Pasquariello. 


Theirs is the greatest love story never told—but of course, as their granddaughter, I'm a bit biased. They would be celebrating 57 years of marriage next month if Poppie was alive. Nana is still with us, but these days she doesn't know one month from the next. I miss them both.


I was searching for wedding photos from everyone in my family and Ryan's to use for our wedding, and got these from a cousin. 


I'd remembered Nana telling me a long time ago that they had a "snowball wedding," where all of her bridesmaids wore white, but had never seen most of these photos before. I could look at these all day... so much to love. 

the cove

The previously unused space beneath our staircase has been reinvented. It's now the Writing Cove, future site of my memoir authorship. You read that correctly, memoir authorship. Feels scary and exhilarating at the same time to actually write that "out loud" and commit to it. 


But it's happening, so I might as well blog about it. I've begun what promises to be a long and strenuous and exciting process—turning a month-long road trip into a 70,000-word story. The post-it note front and center reads, "Almost all good writing begins with terrible first efforts." Just a little reminder that I'm sure I'll need.


Here goes.

tebowie

Just one more reason to love Jimmy Fallon. 

buon [belated] natale

Gingerbread creations have become something of a tradition in the Pasquariello household around the holidays.


It started a few years ago with your traditional gingerbread house. Then we progressed to a gingerbread manger (including an edible baby Jesus). 


This year, we created a gingerbread desert scene, complete with three wise men, four pyramids, and a crash-landed UFO. I thought it was funny... but I've also been told that I have a warped sense of humor.


Here's what it looked like in the beginning, and then about two weeks later. Demolition has never been so delicious. 

BEFORE

AFTER

resolutions schmesolutions

Folks, it's a frosty -1 degrees with the wind chill. Or is it -1 degree (singular), since there aren't multiple degrees to be found? Regardless, it's freaking cold. And this is our street right now, covered in a fine layer of white.

The internet here at our house has been touch-and-go since mid December, hence why my 12 Days of Christmas series ended almost before it began. Oh well. It's fixed now, the new year is here, and we're moving on.

This is the part where I announce a resolution to write more in 2012. Or is it?

In 2008, I wrote 55 posts. In 2011, only 24. In my own defense, I also lived by myself back then. I probably spent more time in front of my computer, whereas now I spend more time curled up in front of the TV with Ryan. But can you blame me? It's cold, and he's warm (and cute).

Anyway. I also blog less these days because I think too hard about trying to write something great instead of just writing... whatever. Random shit. Like this—check out this necklace I bought last weekend. I thought it was super cute and then halfway through the day I realized I kind of looked like Mr. T. 

Yep. There it is. 2012. Boom.