I have taken on a lot of new responsibilities at work, and haven’t let off on any of my other tasks. I’m now coordinating a research study that Sally is running, which has taken up a ton of time. Recently, we’ve decided to merge two studies together, meaning that all documents, approvals, recruitment materials, systems, etc. needed to be redone. I did have help here in my counterpart representing the study merging with mine, and she is fantastic, so it was a pleasant although crazy experience. We submitted about 30-40 documents to the institutional review board, which is insane!! We had to be sure each detail matched on every one of those documents, and that we didn’t forget to submit anything, which would delay the official startup of the study.

Besides that, I have been preparing to take on a couple new sets of parents and kids, trying to fit in work on my dissertation, reading and attending lectures and discussions for a two-year Autism Research Training Program I’m taking part in, presenting my research to visiting scholars, and working feverishly on a grant proposal (besides a multi-page application, there are 23 attached documents…yes…***23***).

All is great at home! Nik is temporarily working at a university closer to home, which saves him a ton of commute time, and his hours are better (in my opinion). He is now getting home around 6:30 instead of 8:30 or later. He picks up dinner for us or helps me make it when he gets home. He feeds JoJo! He takes out the trash! He actually eats dinner with me and we watch TV or a movie. I’ve really been enjoying it, and highly prefer it to his old schedule. It’s only for awhile, though, so I have to enjoy it while it lasts.

I head to LA on Thursday, and have a lot of fun things planned. It’s my mom’s birthday on Saturday, so we wil be celebrating that evening! We’ll also be shopping, wine tasting, and visiting the track. I’ll be looking for bridesmaids dresses with Mandi and Justine, heading to Kimberly and Grady’s to have dinner and visit with them and Zena and Sienna Benna, meeting Melissa and Gaby for breakfast, and meeting with the wedding planner. It’ll be a fantastic few days!!!

Speaking of the wedding, there has been a flurry of planning activity lately. The most important news is…I’ve said yes to a dress! I headed down to LA to shop with my mom, and we had a blast. I was really nervous about it, as pushy salespeople make me anxious and I am generally very picky, but it turned out to be a really fun experience. I probably tried on 7 or 8 dresses before I found the one, and there was not a moment’s hesitation on my or my mom’s part about the choice. It’s gorgeous!

We’ve also been working hard on additional details, such as finalizing the design of the wedding favors, choosing a rehearsal dinner spot, and booking the honeymoon! The wedding is now about 8 months away…which seems both so far and extraordinarily close all at the same time. There are so many details involved in the planning, and I am thankful both that we hired a fantastic wedding planner and that we’ve had such a long engagement. I’ve been enjoying every single moment of planning, and none of it has been stressful!

The remainder of that LA trip was amazing, as usual. My friend Kimberly bought Zena and I facials for Christmas, so we took the opportunity to head to the Malibu spa on a gorgeous, sunny weekend day. We were absolutely pampered, and then we had a yummy lunch in Malibu. Just driving along Pacific Coast Highway and chatting with those two–a perfect day. Later that evening, Mandi and I headed to Pop, a champagne and dessert bar in Pasadena (can that get any more perfect for me?). We indulged in incredible food, such as brie toast with chardonnay-soaked raisins, proscuitto-wrapped shrimp, and maple bacon crepes…as well as, of course, copious amounts of champagne.

All has been well since my return. Nik’s new job keeps him busy, and although he’s gotten more used to the schedule, he’s still not awake and at home for very long in a given day. It has still been a challenge to figure out the logistics of dinner, the evening routine, and trying to spend some time together. We had a special evening out at the Melting Pot last weekend, which was nice, and he accompanied me to the scrapbook store today, which was also very nice (and sweet of him). I have been making dinners and keeping a plate for him in the fridge. He gets home too late for me to wait to eat with him, and I’m sure microwave-reheated food isn’t the tastiest for him, but it works. He told me he appreciates all the extra work I’ve been having to put into the new routine, which was nice to hear. And the other evening, he spent his awake half hour baking me cookies and changing the dog-hairy sheets for me!

Next week I head to Amesbury to celebrate Pepere’s 80th birthday! I cannot wait to spend some quality time with my family!

Here are some highlights from the fabulous near-two-week bliss of a holiday break:

Christmas with my mom. We ate dinner at the Chart House, and then dove into a neverending pile of gifts while drinking plenty of champagne with dancing craisins. I swear that this year Logan demonstrated his ability to either count or sequence, as he KNEW when it was his turn to open a gift and was really bummed when Mandi skipped over him–

Christmas at my dad’s. Nana and Nonno drove in from Arizona to join us. We snacked on cookies and breads, opened gifts, ate a delicious lunch, chatted outside, and then put the Lakers game on and chatted some more–

Breakfast with Mark and Lydia. It’s always nice to see them and catch up. I can’t wait to spend some more time with them in 2012 and for Mark to officiate the wedding!–

Dinner with Kimberly, Grady, Zena, and Siena. Siena is just the most precious baby. She tolerated her mommy and daddy having a long, long dinner with their friends. She was such a good girl and she just played and played and grabbed our hair, wooing us with her smile.–

Lakers game with Mandi! We started out the evening at a happy hour, and talked and laughed over mojitos, jicama, and leprechauns. I love when Mandi takes me to her games. We had a ton of fun.–

Unphotographed highlights include a late night post-Thanksgiving (in December) dinner run on the dark track with Mandi, delicious homecooked meals with my mom, meeting up with Nik’s friends at a bar in Manhattan Beach (I missed you guys), some very special shopping with Kimberly and Zena, breakfast with Melissa and Jason and finally getting to see their gorgeous home, and cake tasting with my sisters/maids of honor! (“From the back side!”)

Nik has started his new job up here, and it’s pretty far from home (an hour to an hour and a half drive each way…which isn’t horrible for LA and traffic, but there’s little traffic here and he drives about 160 miles a day). We’re settling into a new routine. With him having been off of work for several months, I had gotten used to him running the errands, taking care of the house, and making me dinner almost every night. He is now just trying to stay awake after coming home in the evenings. He’s really exhausted, and I’m hoping that he gets used to it soon. I have been either making or starting dinner, and he’s a trooper in helping me finish it up as soon as he gets home. We had also been used to having the evenings together, and now there’s little time. We have started to call each other on his drive home, which is nice, and catch up on the day. It’s the second week and it’s already getting easier, so I think we’ll fall into a routine soon. I’m so happy for him in his new job!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FRWatw_ZEQI&feature=share

Martha helped throw my dad a huge birthday party a few years ago, and has been wanting to celebrate her birthday in a similar manner for quite some time. She finally decided to go for it, and organized a fabulous 50ish birthday party. Turns out she is a great party planner–it was gorgeous and a ton of fun. She had a fun theme and did a spectacular job on the decorations.

Here are Mandi and I at the beginning of the party. You can see some of the fun decorations and desserts in the background.

Unfortunately, Justine had to work that evening and didn’t arrive until late, so she’s missing from the family photos. But here is as close to a family photo as we got!

The evening was full of catching up with family (I always appreciate an opportunity to see Martha’s side of the family!!), dancing, eating, playing blackjack, drinking vodka and cran-raspberry juice, and, of course, sisterly shenanigans after Justine arrived…

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MARTHA! I hope you enjoyed your party! You did a great job with it–everyone had a great time!

Mandi, Sasha, and I ran a 5k Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. I was really nervous about it, as I had never run in such cold weather and I hadn’t quite made it yet to 3 miles, so it was a longer run than I’d ever done. But it was fantastic!! Although my recurring muscle pain struck around mile 1.5 and we had to walk for a bit, I did better than I thought I would do, and it was SO MUCH FUN. The course was beautiful, amongst all the New England houses, along the coast, in all the fall leaves!! A special thanks to Mandi, who modified her pace to stay with me so that we could do the whole thing together. Here we are before the race. There was ice on the ground–it was cold!! (What a great excuse it was to spend exorbitant money on a Lululemon jacket.)

And crossing the fnish line! We had no idea where Memere and my mom were, and we knew they’d be snapping pictures, so we smiled constantly for the last half mile!

The rest of Thanksgiving day was wonderful. Memere performed wonders in the kitchen, and we each helped with a dish (I made corn pudding). The rest of the trip was busy with our usual activities and some new ones, including a trip to Ogunquit, outlet shopping, going out to eat, exploring Amesbury, and a holiday stroll in New Hampshire…

A perfect way to kick off the holiday season. I can’t wait until next year!

Thankfully, I now feel caught up, and have been relaxing and doing lots of fun things. This past weekend, Nik and I headed down to LA, where I was able to do some of my favorite things and see some of my favorite people. What I really, really wanted to do after my exam was eat at Disneyland. I told my mom, and she arranged for us to go! Mandi met us there, and we spent the day exploring (it was already mostly decorated for Christmas), riding all the rides (some twice), and eating, eating, eating, and drinking. On the menu for me was the following: vanilla coffee, Bengal BBQ beef skewers and bacon-wrapped asparagus, a cream cheese pretzel, clam chower, cheesecake, and a mint julep. It was a great day. There has always been something spectacular about Disneyland for me, and I have so many memories there. It was the perfect thing to do.

In addition to my Disneyland day, I got celebrate my dad’s birthday with breakfast at Eat at Joe’s with Nik, Mandi, Justine, Martha, and my dad. This is a favorite neighborhood spot in Redondo Beach that we’ve been going to for decades. I also got a bit of shopping in (began my Lululemon obsession and had Ikea adventures with Mandi) and spent several hours with my favorite little family, Kimberly, Grady, and baby Siena. Grady very carefully decorated the house and worked hard on creating a cozy atmosphere for us. I walked into a house full of flowers, candlelight, and a congratulations cake for me! They are so thoughtful. I love every minute I spend with this family. Siena is incredibly precious, and she has developed so much since the last time I saw her. She is rolling over now, and she is starting to do some back-and-forth cooing with people, although she looks adorably confused when the sounds come out of her mouth. Kimberly and Grady are amazing parents and so natural with and dedicated to her. Grady picked dinner up for us (Zena joined us!) and we chatted for hours. Such a lovely household.

I spent this week doing more work catch-up and schoolwork, and am now caught up. Last night, Nik and I headed to Berkeley to visit our friends April and Seth. Gracious hosts that they are, they welcomed us with champagne, and we managed to consume two bottles before dinner. We walked through their neighborhood to a new restaurant, Origen, which was incredible. I had buttermilk fried calamari, handrolled gnocci with pork ragu and mascarpone, chocolate-studded bread pudding, and a mulberry mojito. Delicious. We had such a great time chatting with April and Seth and got home well after midnight.

I am continuing my relaxation today with a weekend edition of a do-whatever-I-want day (which used to be typical of weekend days, but has been nonexistant for weeks [with the exception of last weekend, of course]). I’m still in my pajamas, and I have been reading a fantastic new book, online Christmas shopping, cleaning the house, and playing with Jo. We’ll soon head off for an evening run through the fall leaves…

I have been so stressed out about this exam. I knew it was coming, so I even pushed our wedding back a year due to it. I have literally been thinking about this every day, every night, in every shower, during every walk and run, for months. It’s a really big deal, and I was terrified.

But…I passed with flying colors, a unanimous decision paired with many flattering comments. I am so thrilled, so relieved, and I feel like I can live life again! I can’t count how many times in the recent weeks I have said to my mom, “November 8th will NEVER BE OVER!” and to Nik, “I’m not even living life!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Well, now I can live. Amy, Carolyn, Nik, and Alessandra took me out right after the exam to celebrate. I indulged in my favorite, raspberry mojitos, and I ordered myself a big salted caramel cheesecake, thankyouverymuch.

A note of thanks to everyone who has supported me lately. Nik was endless support in terms of technical difficulties, stress relief, equipment setup, shopping, organizing, etc. Carolyn, again, thank you for talking stats with me. Mom, thank you for assuring me that tonight would come. Amy, oh Amy…let me show you what she did. Amy volunteered to help bring snacks for my committee members to enjoy during the exam. I was endlessly thankful for this, because this meant that I wouldn’t have to bake pumpkin bread the night before the exam, all whilst lamenting the fact that the next day would never end… But take a look at what Amy did.

Seriously, Amy? Really? Look at what she did. She went so above and beyond anything I could have imagined. Knowing my fall obsession, she decorated the entire room (and let me keep the decorations!). The room even smelled like pumpkin! And she slyly placed a pumpkin spice latte next to my laptop. What a friend. And Carolyn should be thanked for those beautiful flowers. You two really are something special.

(And there is Nik, helping me set up. Thanks, Niko!).

Here is Jo in her costume. She was a good squirrel but she cried a lot. She only barked and growled at kids with masks on:

Here are Jo and I early in the evening:

The flickering foggy pumpkins:

And a video that puts it all together (sorry it’s sideways…can’t figure that out right now):

video