I also want to tell the world that I love my Brian so much, everyday. He is great, and even if we don't get married anytime soon, and maybe that is best if we wait, I don't care. He is a wonderful man and friend to me. That's all.

I'm going home!

This has been a good and exciting week. I wish that I could motivate myself to write in my blog more often, but it doesn't always work out that way. Valentine's Day was really nice, aside from the weather. Brian and I have started this tradition of not going out on Valentine's Day. And besides, the roads were pretty bad from the ice and snow, so unless we walked to one of the restaurants on our street, we really couldn't have gone anywhere. Brian got me a large vase full of flowers-- stargazer lilies, roses, tulips, etc. It is still very beautiful and incredibly fragrant. He also bought me a card and a box of chocolates. We had a fabulous gourmet dinner, which I already posted the menu for last week. The chocolate ganache (courtesy of the Martha Stewart website; yes, I'm actually a fan of hers) was excellent, as were my potatoes, the green beans, and the steak. Brian did a good job cooking the filet mignons. Valentine's Day even came yesterday when I received the most wonderful iced sugar cookies from my very sweet mother. Thanks Mom! Anyway, on the 15th, I just basically worked early, went to the gym, did laundry, and fell asleep during yet another movie. I also cleaned the apartment in preparation for our weekend guests, Kelly from Ole Miss and Anthony Cekay, who went to U of L with Brian and now goes to school in CUNY in Manhattan.

I came home early on Friday to meet everyone, and Brian went into Boston to pick up Kelly and Cekay (who came in on the $15 Fengwah? bus), but the traffic was so bad that they didn't get here until 8 pm. We then went to this pub down the street and had a pretty good dinner and beer. We were all pretty tired and Kelly and I went to sleep early while Brian and Cekay jammed a little on the trumpet and saxophone, respectively. Saturday, I had to work (of course), and then I came home for an hour and drove to the T station to go to the city to meet Kelly. Brian had brought both he and Cekay back to the city for music stuff. Kelly auditioned for a master's program at the Boston Conservatory. We met at Hynes at 2:00 and walked to the Prudential mall, where I visited Sephora and bought some lovely "Philosophy"cal treats for my friend Nora, who sent me the box full of goodies. We walked a lot that day, to the Common and then to Fanueil Hall and Quincy Market. We had a lot of dessert that day, too-- Ben and Jerry's, gelato, and then creme brulee cheesecake at Bertucci's later. Oh, we were devilish. I also bought some wicked cool Northface gloves at City sports. We took the T to Cambridge to see Harvard and then we had dinner. Then we went back to the apartment and watched "Little Miss Sunshine," which is one of the best movies I've seen lately.

Sunday, we ate breakfast at the Main Street Cafe and I had delicious blueberry pancakes. We took Kelly to Logan airport (a scary experience) and then stopped at Target on the way back to Marlborough. Monday, I went to the gym and then went to Shrewsbury to see Gouri about helping me with my Mass. taxes. I've already done the Federal and state of Kentucky taxes and I can't wait to get my refunds (they're really not that big but it's something). Then I went to Trader Joe's, because it is right by Gouri's house. I love that place; I bought frozen blueberries, chocolate covered bananas, chai tea latte mix, dinner stuff, etc. It is the best store. Anyway, I went to choir, per usual. I sat next to a lady who said that I sounded like I had been singing for a while and that she liked singing next to me, which was a nice compliment.

Tuesday night, I went to visit my friend Mary from Northeastern and we went to eat at this restaurant in Billerica called Naked Fish, which was amazing. I had coconut encrusted Haddock and Mary had grilled chicken and we both had yummy veggies like plantains and sweet potatoes. Then we hung out at her apartment, talked about school and life, and then ate some wonderful King Cake. King Cake is a traditional cake (rather like a cinnamon bread with yellow, green, and purple colored icing) made on Shrove Tuesday or Mardi Gras, the day before Ash Wednesday, the beginning of lent. Mary even put in a little plastic baby Jesus! It's kind of a different tradition, but I like it. I miss Cajun food and celebrations.

Not much of note happened yesterday, other than that Brian and I made chicken parmesan together. Oh, I did have an interview with St. Mary's Credit Union again. Hopefully, I will get this other job. There are just a lot of problems at Banknorth, period.

Tomorrow I will fly home for the weekend. We have to leave Marlborough at 4 am to get to the Providence, RI, airport on time for my 6 am flight. I am going to a bridesmaid's luncheon at noon, then an eye appointment at 3:30, and finally, dinner at Buca di Beppo wtih lots of people at 7. And more for the rest of the weekend later. I'll come back on Monday afternoon.

Tonight, I have to pack and then we may go see a movie. Possibly "Breach" or something.

I was dreaming of the past, and my heart was beating fast...

Happy Valentine's Day, John Lennon.

Today has been a bit of a spontaneously good day. This morning, I went to Starbucks to get my favorite chai tea latte with a shot of espresso (they call it a dirty chai; I'm a dirty girl). Haha. Anyway, I also bought a John Lennon album while I was there. It's like a greatest hits album and there is this really wonderful song called "Jealous Guy," which is kind of like an apology to Yoko or something. A very sweet song. I went to work and Lisa and I worked together alone for most of the day. Our manager brought us pizza at like 2:15 in the afternoon and that was okay. Greasy, Papa Gino's, but whatever. After work, I went to the grocery store to buy filets for tomorrow night. Here is the lowdown on menu for Valentine's Day:

Caesar Salad
Crescent rolls from a can
Angus Beef filets
Green Bean Casserole
Mashed Red skin potatoes
Angel Food Cake (in mini bundt shapes) with a chocolate ganache, whipped cream, and strawberries

And of course, red wine. I bought Brian a shirt from Land's End last week, and he's getting a card, but that's really about it. I'm not expecting much from him; sorry, but he's not one for good surprises-- I got Britney Spears' perfume for Christmas. Okay. But that doesn't mean that I don't love him.

Anyway, we're expecting this huge snowstorm tonight and both of us had to park in a covered garage across the street. I hope that it is not too bad. Tomorrow, I'm supposed to go to this training class in Worcester and honestly, I do not want to go.

Ugh, we had stir fried shrimp and veggies for dinner and homemade chocolate fondue and angel food cake bites for dessert. It was great, but now I am so full.

Not too much else is happening now. I went to the mall with Gouri last week and bought a light grey suit and a really cool dress to wear to my cousin Jennifer's wedding. I'm reading "The Year of Pleasures," which I haven't really gotten into yet. My mother has now officially sent me dishtowel for every holiday except St. Patrick's Day (you just wait, I know I'll get one).

My friend, Kelly Burns from Ole Miss, is coming to Boston this weekend and he is staying with us in Marlborough. He is auditioning at the Boston Conservatory (he is a fabulous tenor) so we will spend the day on Saturday in the city. I haven't been into Boston in two months. That may sound weird, but I feel very isolated from the city. It's like another world away from here.

Yay for Swedes!

Brian and I had a fun weekend, well, about as fun as I've had in a while. We stayed at home on Friday night and he cooked spaghetti for dinner. We were planning on going to see a movie, but it snowed, so we decided not to see "Pan's Labyrinth."

***I have to interrupt here because I just saw a preview for "Bridge to Terabithia" by Katherine Patterson, which is my favorite childhood book. The movie looks terrible, except that I really like Zooey Deschanel, who plays the teacher.***

Okay, back to reality. Anyway, I finally had a Saturday off at work and I woke up (still a little early) and watched Gilmore Girls Season 5 episodes, on DVD. And of course, I ate my kashi; I really love their cereal and pretty much all of their food. I went to the gym to walk on the treadmill for fifty minutes. I've been reading this book, "American Psycho," as of late, and frankly, even though I like some of it, much of the material is offensive and disgusting. It is very misogynistic and very graphically violent. The book, which was made into a movie in 2000 with Christian Bale, is about a yuppie Wall Street broker, who also happens to be serial killer. Very scary. Almost scarier than the actual crimes is the society he lives in, this uppercrust New York pre-Rudy Giuliani, which is very shallow and devoid of any kind of emotion. I'm almost done with the book and am looking forward to a more euphoric novel for my next project.

Saturday night, Brian and I went to Gretchen and Andy's house for dinner, where we had crab enchiladas and played an old board game called Outwageous, which is like Trivial Pursuit, but different. Then we went to Brian's friend Chris's house in Worcester for a small birthday party. The party was fun; Sarah and Keith were there, too. I watched SNL with Drew Barrymore and fell asleep for a minute. Brian also played trumpet upstairs in the studio with Chris and company.

Sunday, I got up kind of early, watched more Gilmore Girls and went to the gym to walk. My friend Gouri and I were supposed to go to the mall, but she works at H&R Block on the weekends and got tied up at work, so instead we are going tomorrow night. So, Brian suggested that we go to Stoughton to the huge IKEA store, which is like the coolest Swedish superstore for the home. Stoughton is like an hour southeast of Marlborough, and I've never been there in the past. The place was crazy! There were people directing traffic and a parking garage and everything. We didn't really buy too much--just some things for the kitchen and bathroom, and cinnamon rolls and lingonberry preserves from the Swedish foodmart. It was really a fun time, but the next time I go will probably be on a weekday. We got a little lost on the way back, and we ate leftovers for dinner and watched part of the Superbowl. Go Colts!

Yesterday, I worked; Mondays go by fast, which is wonderful. Except that we had this dumb meeting. I guess I'm glad that I stayed at BankNorth, but really, I need to find another job that makes me happy at some point. I miss working with Gouri, too. And I feel like I will never be trained for my new position.

I went to choir in Stow last night. It wasn't a bad rehearsal, but our concert is in five weeks and I hope we are ready! By the way, I love being an alto!

I only worked for four hours today, for comp time because I am working on Saturday. It wasn't bad at all and I went to the grocery store afterwards and bought food, Valentine's cards, etc. Then I came home and relaxed, read for a long time, and watched some TV.

Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a surprise gift from my friend Nora, who is Matt Lawson's girlfriend. I was awaiting my philosophy purchase and thought that was it, but then I got this package, which contains a book, a journal, notecards, bubble bath, tea, a bath towel, and chocolates. She is really sweet to send this to me. Anyway, I wish I had a friend like her here, because she is great to talk with and we have a lot in common.