Define Family

okay blog-o-sphere. this semester i am taking a class called the family in European history. as part of that class, we need to blog twice a week about family. seems easy enough, right? but last week we talked about what makes a family, and i am coming to realize that this assignment is quite difficult.

what does family mean to me? it means a lot of things. it means my dad. my mom. my brothers. my nanas. my grumpy. my aunts. my uncles. my friends. my community. my staff. my classmates. the church. i have considered myself a part of so many families over the past 21 years, and not just the ballous or the mccarthys, but so many others.

what family means to me is unconditional love. the people who will love you no matter what stupid things you do or how many times you mess up. sometimes there is shared dna, but sometimes there is not.

i have decided as a way to guide my blog-project through the semester, to share the different familial bonds i have experienced over the past twenty one years here on the interweb. so buckle in blogspot, because my families are crazy.

Res-Life, Best Life

all my life, i have been over involved. between choruses and cheerleading and theatre and service it was a busy life in high school. i just reallllyyy like being crazy busy. i don't do well with down time. thats what has lead to me to having a highly "student leader"ized college experience. from retreat teams, to a year as a student minister (i know, what the heck is a student minister? maybe later.)  and finally in my final year here at dear old CUA, i am a resident assistant. 

the homestead

our awesome opus area coordinators

last year, when i was applying to be an ra, my fellow student minister liz was all "i cannot imagine you as an ra" and i had to say i was kind of thinking the same thing. frankly, i hate watching people do stupid things, and being the one who catches them is the absolute worse. but, in august, i returned to cua and found that there was a lot more to being an ra that i initially thought. 

opus loves brunch

my favorite part of being an ra is of course my wonderful residents, but my absolutely awesome staff comes in a close second. are staff meetings are crazy long and crazy fun because we all absolutely love each other, however i'm pretty sure every other staff finds us completely annoying. such was the case when we arrived on campus a few days earlier than the rest of the student body for winter "training." we had a blast hanging out, preparing for the semester ahead and competing with other neighborhoods. it was pretty stellar city and we have some awesome events planned for this semester. such as floor wars. and a safe rave. and a spa-lobby. 

rho time

for days

can't you just taste the cinnamon?

one of the high points of training was the "cardinal cook-off" where each neighborhood had to create a dessert and beverage that defined their neighborhood. since opus loooovess brunch (we make it for our residents, we make it for each other, we go to it together) we decided to go with a baked challah bread french toast served a la mode with a candied bacon garnish and some fimosas with raspberries. we won in the taste category, which let's be honest, is the only category that matters when it comes to a food competition. feast your eyes and try not to get hungry.

well, funnily enough i happen to be the ra on call this evening so i'm off to do some community walks and greet the fine residents of this here opus hall and their wonderful decision making skills! happy mlk day, everybody. 

and we're back…

as much as these past three and a half years in the district of crazy have proved my lifelong notion that i am a city girl through and through, it has been nice to be home in the good old suburbs of massachusetts these past couple weeks. not only have i been having a splendid time hanging with the fan squad, but i have also been reunited with the family kitchen aid (2 pies, 36 carrot cupcakes 79 chocolate chip cookies, and some delectable cream cheese frosting. its been good)

in addition to hanging with the mccarthy and ballou clans, i've also been chumming with my "best friend from home," beth. let me tell you a little bit more about beth and i. we are some classy ladies who enjoy the finer things in life. we constantly are struggling to make our babysitters salary comply with our diva dreams. don't worry, our lack of funds never stops us from having a good time, because "we value experiences over money" since we can either have a lot of experiences and no money, or no experiences and a little money. easy choice.

since we've been back in the burbs, my fellow soon-to-be teacher friend and i have enjoyed 1 (with the potential of a second tomorrow) fine trip to get dunkins and manis at foxy nail. beth chose poi 'this gown needs a crown' #divaa and i went with the slightly darker 'haven't the foggiest' pictured with the sweet nectar above. we've also had 2 deliciouuussly carbicidal trips to bertuccis, makers of the best rolls on earth. and can i just say, the fact that we only have been twice in two weeks is kind of an all time low record for us. so check us out being frugal. we've also had a few shopping sprees and walked away with gifts not only for others, but also ourselves, #tistheseason.

what a beauty, just dippin' her roll

we also did a customary drive by of our alma mater, bishop feehan high school, because duh #raisealoftgreenbanners

bottom line, its been great to be home. because, even though i love city living, sometimes, you just need to get a manicure, drink some dunkins and drive around looking for suburban dream homes with your best friend.

oh. and heres the pie i made tonight because why eat apples plain when you can coat them in cinnamon and sugar and bake them into perfection?

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

so it is 2:51 am on Christmas Eve (Christmas?) and i have finally finished my love affair with the kitchen aid. after coming home from the annual birthday party for baby Jesus at my most awesome Nana's house (she's literally the best) i decided it was the perfect time to make some carrot cake cupcakes, some cranberry nut bread, and why not frost the cupcakes and clorox the kitchen while i'm at it. maybe it had something to do with the cup of coffee Nana convinced me to have at 10 pm. Anyways, before my late night solo kitchen party heres what my day looked like.

8:10 am - the GMB wakes me up and tells me that Grampy can't drop me off at work because he's sick. i am a terrible person and say haha because i think its a mean trick to get me to wake up more than four minutes before i need to be at the ward's berry farm #wbf (oh yeah, i don't drive. it gives me severe anxiety. like tears and heavy breathing anxiety. whoops.)

8:12 am - figure out the GMB was fo' real so i brush my teeth and get ready to brave the >1 walk to the wbf. stop to do GMB's hair because theres always time to pull some hair out of a pretty face. also started to have a minor freak out that maybe i shouldn't leave my ill father with a six-year-old to take care of him but decide to call and check in periodically between tasks at the wbf.

8:42 am - arrive at the wbf. 12 minutes late. nbd.

8:43 am - 2:00 pm - live that wbf lifestyle. make some sweet gift baskets. realize i left out the honey. disassemble fruit baskets. remake sweet gift baskets. leave and blast some macy grey as (i try) to run home.

2:21 pm - arrive at home. mon cher père says we need a few things for Christmas breaking. give myself a grey's anatomy break before heading out for another walk to the grocery store.

3:22 pm - head to the grocery store. get the necessities. peace out shaw's in sharon.

3:53 pm - have an anxiety inducing phone call with mon cher frere about how i am getting to said birthday party for baby Jesus. anxiety occurs. freak out that my dad is feeling ill enough to miss baby Jesus' party. first time in over 35 years. crazy.

4:11 pm - call Nana to inform her of mine and my fathers absence from the party. Nana being Nana ropes somebody into coming to get me (that time i REALLY hate driving) and i am eternally grateful (thanks Aunt Paula) but also still feel super guilty. so i curled my hair (it had been in a very sad braid), put on my brightest pair of red pants and bedazzled myself out to get ready for some celebration. awkward outfit selfless below.

4:35 pm - roll out to head over to celebrate the birth of the Christ. lots of fun activities followed. like seeing the fan squad for the first time since summer.

like my lovely Nana and Auntie Mary donning these vintage aprons as they served dinner.

later Nana and others, get ready for it, took shots. yeah. my 79 year-old grandmother took a shot.

then we had your typical carol and candle parade to place the baby Jesus in the creche. check out Grace with the baby Jesus.

also, my aunt's super crafty friend made this really cool nativity bunting (sorry about the lighting, it was to set the mood for the parade to the creche. duh)

pares ça, GMB and Alexi (my cousin) opened presents. see GMB below with her Lilly swag (can we get an and thank God for six-year-olds with fashion sense.) i caught her counting her gifts and asked her to remind me what we are most excited for about Christmas #todayasaviorisborn. then we had a tickle fight. normal.

then the adults followed with a good old yankee swap of $25 gift cards and then we sat around eating/chatting/drinking coffee. also, Nana got a new tablet so we can Skype all da time.

10:37 pm - i arrived home, my dad was feeling a little better, and i'm hoping a lot better by tomorrow, and i got my bake on. pretty swell.

2:51am - i got in my christmas jam-jams and got in bed and decided to write this blog post because what else am i going to do but recap my day to this small figment of the internet.

well, i'm off to sleep for a few hours before mass in the morning #childrenschoiredition but here's wishing you and yours the very merriest of Christmases!

273 reasons why i haven't blogged since july…

oh well hello there bloggity boo! 
5 months, no see!

since i started this little nugget of the internet way back when this summer i left you two ultra compelling posts that left you rolling in your computer chairs waiting for more and then failed to deliver. and for that i am trulllly sorry. i promised epic documentation from brunching with my betches. style files out the wazooo. and rambles upon rambles of nonsense. but instead i abandoned you and i realize how non-traumatizing that was to my one reader. 

however, the rylee has been on me to persevere and blog on. so i figured i should give you an update of what i haven't been blogging about. 

23 third graders i had the pleasure of teaching in my student teaching this semester. we did cool things like make this life-size rain forest diagram.

48 residents i have the joy of being an ra to in the one and only opus hall at the catholic university of america. i made sick bulletin boards like this. yeah. christmas lights. beat that. 

179 pages of my action research paper about those lovely third graders.

12 dozen cookies that i have baked since then. should have been about 18 but i ate a lot of dough. i also had some pretty sweet wednesday family dinners with rylee and ines. on of them is pictured below. 

3 ultra awkward outfit of the day photo shoots with rylee. just see how awesome i am at posing. so great. 

 2 fabulous bottomless mimosa brunches with my dear friends. unfortunately, this was way too few for my liking. i resolve to do better next year. 

1 ultra exciting news of RYLEE AND TIM GETTING ENGAGED. 697 pins on that inboard and counting. 

4 new pairs of boots because i have a problem. 

and this pear pie i just made. my dad said you could "taste the lemon too much" but he's on his third piece. so yeah.