So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye

Just had a momentary panic/awwww moment as I realized that this will probably be my last blog post from the United States. The day that at some point seemed like it was so far away or was never going to actually come is here. These last few days have been crazy for me, in between trying to see everyone, eat absolutely every thing that I know I'm going to miss once I'm overseas, pack/unpack/repack, etc. Last night I went out for the Last Supper with one of my close friends from middle school. Today, I am doing one last mani/pedi/Sephora run to stock up on the makeup that I can't get over there, then one last burger at Shake Shack (those burgers are so amazing that I am about 2.5 seconds away from composing a love ballad about one). It turns out that one of my sorority sisters has a flight that leaves from the same terminal at Newark as mine does, about 30 minutes before me, so we are meeting up for one (ok, a few) last drink(s), then it's wheels up!

I promise I will resume blogging ASAP once I'm over there and will post lots of pictures! Thank you to everyone for all of your support these past few months. It has meant the world to me. Also, if you haven't done so yet, you still have some time to enter my Preppy Princess giveaway.

now I know how Nate Archibald felt

Yesterday, when the movers were here, they jammed something in my door to keep it from closing. When they left, they took it out, but the door still wouldn't close. I managed to get it closed last night when I went home. Today, when I got here, I opened the door, but could not get it closed. My mother and I cleaned here and packed up. We were unable to close the door at all. After several angry phone calls and messages with the moving company, I was able to get them to send someone out here between 10:00-12:00 tomorrow. I was supposed to meet my landlady tonight at 9:00pm to hand over the keys to my apartment and needless to say that didn't happen. It was not safe to leave my apartment with the door half open and a lot of my stuff in it overnight, so I had to spend the night here. My bed is gone. My sheets are gone. My blankets are gone. My towels are gone so I can't take a shower in the morning. My lamp is gone. I have no food here. I am squatting in my own house. Now I know exactly how Nate Archibald felt.

S-T-R-E-S-S-E-D

Yesterday, the movers came. In order to save me time and energy, and give me back some sanity, TLS and I decided to go with a full service move, which meant that the movers would pack everything up for me. After all, few things scream "safety" quite like inviting three strange men into your house to pack up your underwear.

The moving company came to my house to do an estimate and arranged to come here from 2-3pm. Then, they called me the day before asking if they could move my appointment down to 1:00pm. Even better. They called me at 2:30pm on Thursday saying they were going to get here around 5. They showed up at 6:00pm. I live(d) in a Co-op building with strict rules, and needless to say, my housing board does not allow for movers at 10:00pm. They were here for 4.5 hours and at the end, I really started questioning why we were doing this. Things that I specifically asked them not to pack- my ipod cord, a change purse with Euro coins in it, several bags of things that were going to the Salvation Army, etc. got packed. Things that I asked them to pack, naturally, got left behind. In addition, one of them left his toolbag here. They managed to pack up almost all of my summer clothes and attempted to pack my laundry hamper full of dirty clothes. Fortunately, that one I noticed right away and had them unpack it. My summer clothes did not meet the same fate. Thankfully, due to the Vineyard Vines Friends and Family sale and the generosity of my fiance, I have four polo shirts and a Preppy Whale Tee coming to Germany. (Vineyard Vines, I owe you a huge thank you- your sale could not have come at a more appropriate time and the fact that you ship to APO addresses is a huge plus!) My super saw the movers at like 10pm, and told them that they were not allowed to be here, so at that point, they just got careless and started throwing things around. I am scared to see what all of my stuff will look like when it finally gets to Germany. They left my apartment a mess and I am now here trying to clean it up and figure out what to do with all of the things that got left behind. Grrrrr.

birthday month giveaway #2

I have so much I want to say, but it is 9:48pm and the movers are still here. I am too physically and emotionally drained to type a long coherent blog post, so that one will have to wait. In the meantime, however, it's time for a second giveaway.

This giveaway is graciously sponsored by the Preppy Princess. Since I love writing, this is a stationery giveaway. The winner will receive a Sticky Notes with Notepad and a Letterpress Set which includes 6 cards and 7 envelopes (in case you mess one up!). Both will be in the pattern of the winner's choice.

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment with your favorite item from the Preppy Princess site for 1 entry.
Follow my blog through google friend connect for a second entry.
"Like" the Preppy Princess on facebook for a third entry.
Follow both the Preppy Princess and I on twitter (@PreppyPrincess and @whaleflipflops) and tweet about the giveaway for a fourth entry.
Blog about this giveaway for a fifth entry. You will also receive one entry for every person who enters and says that she was referred by you. (I'm assuming guys aren't exactly clamoring to win this one.)
Please leave all comments in one entry only.

The giveaway will run until Wednesday, June 30th at midnight EST.

giveaway winner

Congratulations to Freck! You won my 2 Preppy Girls coffee travel mug giveaway! Please email me your information and what mug you'd like and I'll pass it along! I have a few more giveaways set up for my birthday month and will hopefully post the next one tonight after all the craziness with the movers is done, so stay tuned!

Cry Me a River, Build a Bridge, and Get Over It

I am now officially at the one week mark.With all of the things I have going on, my hormone and stress levels have been through the roof. I have been a crazed mess of emotions and have spent a lot of time crying. Some times for no apparent reason. The slightest thing (good or bad) can set me off.

My friend bought me a set of monogrammed wash cloths= sniffles
Left phone charger at my mom's= monsoon
Someone liking my nail polish= ::sniff sniff::
Breaking a nail= freaking catastrophe (although, in all fairness, this is my general outlook on life regardless of hormone levels)
Receiving cards from friends= wah wah wah
Not getting to Crumbs before they close= hysterically crying

The moral of this story? For the next week or so, when you see on twitter and facebook that I am a mess and can not stop crying, don't worry, 9 times out of 10 it really is not that serious. (The 10th time, just send a roll of packing tape my way and book me a manicure STAT.) Also, for anyone who was wondering about what happened with all of my mom's China that she tried to pawn off on me- it turned out that it was going to cost over $600 to ship it all. If I'm spending that much on China, I'd rather just get my own brand new stuff, so thus my mom's plan of pawning off all of the things that she doesn't want on me was foiled.

oy gevalt, the sequel

Those of you who have been reading my blog since its inception know that I have a very special love/get away from me bond with my mother. I am an only child and am basically her whole world. This can be both a blessing and a curse. When her little princess is moving far far away from her to live with a boy and leaving her all alone with no one in this world to talk to, that, dear friends, is a curse. In addition, my mother is taking my move as an opportunity to unload years of hostess/birthday/anniversary gifts that have been given to her that she has yet to actually use. When my parents got married, the de rigeur wedding gift was sterling silver coffee spoons. They have been married for 32 years. They have all 6 sets that they received for their wedding. Still in the original packaging. My mother claims that it will be nice to have a reminder of home when I'm living overseas. Few things scream "reminder of home" quite like some things which have not been used in 32 years do. (An anecdote about my family: when my great-grandmother got married, she received a tablecloth as a wedding gift. This tablecloth was just too nice to use and needed to be saved for a special occasion. So she saved it. And saved it. Kept on saving it right up until the day my Nana got married, when she gave it to her as a wedding gift. My Nana just loved this tablecloth so much that she wanted to take good care of it and not ruin it. The best way to preserve a tablecloth? By not using it. This is what she did. She decided to give it to my mother on her wedding day. My mother has yet to use this tablecloth. Three guesses as to what I'm getting for my wedding.)

As any good Jewish mother, mine is resorting to guilt to clear out all of her cabinets. Mrs. So and So gave her these lovely wine glasses for us to use and would want us to use them well. Should I address a thank you card to Mrs. So and So thanking her for the truly heinous glasses that are still in their original packaging 10 years later? My dad's aunt had this lovely plate and it would be nice for me to keep it in my house to remember her by. Is it possible to remember someone who passed away before you were even born? I used to love these serving plates so much and always told her I wanted them for myself, don't I remember? Was this before or after I told her I was the future Mrs. Ricky Martin? 

I have only been at my mother's house for about an hour and a half tonight, but it feels like so much longer. She sat in her living room, pulling out pieces from her China cabinet  and convincing me of exactly why I needed them in my life. While most pieces got met with plenty of mocking and sarcasm, I did get away with a box of stuff that was quite lovely. And $40 to figure out how to get it all to Germany. UPS, here I come! Here are the free pieces of China that I am now paying someone to pack/ship for me.

Pinecone set of China for 6 (soup bowls, salad plates, entree plates).

This was my mother's wedding China that she doesn't use that much any more. I want my own set of China (complete with serving pieces) but this will be good to hold us over until then. The pinecones motif would be great for Thanksgiving.

Blue and white serving bowl.

I love blue and white pieces and this matches some lovely trivets, coasters, and plates that we stocked up on in Turkey!

Andrea by Sadek Buckingham Oblong Platter, Chip/Dip/Spreader Set, and Cake Plate and server set

Love all of the florals on these. My guess is- TLS, not so much.

Set of 6 red glass ice cream bowls

Set of two Spode Blue and Blue serving plates/bowls.

Wedgwood Jasperware kangaroo plate

This one is tiny, about the size of a coaster, and the kangaroo is adorable and I simply adore Jasperware!

Set of two decorative plates from Spain

It's wrong to break up a set so I had to take both, not just the one (i.e. more empty space in her China cabinet which my dad would have to fill).