Thursday, December 13, 2012

It brings you back.

Hey there Loves, hope you are having a great day! Thanks to technology I was able to enjoy my morning coffee while watching the 12-12-12 Concert for Sandy Relief. I love the ability to DVR!

I will be honest when I say, some parts of the concert weren't easy to watch because as I sat in my flat in France, the television was showing devastating pictures of my hometown. I was born and raised in Staten Island, one of the areas hardest hit by Hurricane Sandy.



When Sandy hit I watched from afar, feeling so helpless as my family and friends suffered from its aftermath. It wasn't until two weeks later when I returned to New York for a short trip that I got to see with my own eyes what this natural disaster did to my home. It was overwhelmingly heartbreaking, I am a mush to begin with but when I saw parts of my community in ruins, it crippled me. There were numerous moments while I was driving in my car through my hometown that tears started streaming down my face as I saw houses destroyed and cars flattened from fallen trees. This has to be a dream? You never think that something of this magnitude could happen to your home, but it can and it did.

It's going to be a long time before our Staten Island and beloved Jersey Shore are back to normal and last night's concert definitely shed light on that. Hopefully the concert raised a ton of money and people will get the help they need.

The concert had quite the lineup, I looked over to Kyle and said,"These are all of my favorite artists!" Because with each song performed I was taken back to a particular memory and they all took place in Staten Island or the Jersey Shore. It's where we grew up, where we live during Kyle's offseason and where we plan on raising our family when Kyle's playing days are over.

Isn't Music Amazing? The power it has to bring you right back to a particular place and time in your life. Here are some of my favorite memories that come back when I heard some of the songs performed last night.

Bruce Springstein's Born to Run took me back to my days at University Basketball Camp, every summer from age 6 to 14. I looked forward to camp not only to play basketball but because every morning during warmups Bruce would be blasting and I loved it.

The Who's Teenage Wasteland takes me to the start of the very first half marathon I ever ran. It was in Brooklyn and this song came on as I was running along the boardwalk in Coney Island, at that moment I felt like a badass, I was running 13.1 miles and I didn't tell anyone I was doing it. I told my mother the morning of the race that I was going to Brooklyn to watch the race, when in fact I signed up for it. It is something I will never forget and hearing that song brings me right back.

Bon Jovi's Living on a Prayer brings me back to my days running for St. John Villa Academy and being on the track. Like clockwork, halfway through our team workout one of the girls would scream out, "Oh, we're half way there!"and we'd follow by singing, "Oh, living on a prayer." It got us through the hard workouts every time.

Oh Kanye! I love your music, but as a current student at F.I.T. that kilt was a fashion don't! But your song Jesus Walks had me back in my silver Honda Civic when I first got my license and I drove around like a little punk, windows down, blasting College Dropout.

All of Billy Joel's songs take me to one of my favorite places in the world Long Beach Island, New Jersey. I hear his songs and I am right back in our summer rental, with my family, dancing around, singing his songs, enjoying a few beers and just being so happy to be together enjoying the simplicity that is Long Beach Island. I know one day we will all be back there, enjoying Billy's songs and that makes me smile.

Chris Martin (I Love You!) singing Viva la Vida, brings me back to Spring/Summer 2008 when I met Kyle and we were starting something new and unknown. Coldplay and that album hold such a special place in my heart, which is why we have chosen one of their songs as our wedding song.

Lastly is Paul McCartney, whose voice I grew up listening to. His songs, along with his songs with the Beatles take me back to so many different memories, that I'd be here all day writing. However, I will share one with you, hearing him sing Blackbird takes me to Sundays in Staten Island, waking up early getting in my car, driving up Forest Avenue to Starbucks, getting my coffee all while listening to Breakfast with the Beatles. It's something so simple, but it is something that I live for doing each weekend.

These are all beautiful memories to me and it's good to know that all I have to do is listen to a song and I can go back in time to those moments, they never leave you.


Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Season's Greetings.

Ever since we got our golden retriever Wooden,  I have been obsessed with taking pictures of him. He makes it very easy because a. he is so stinking cute and b. he is very cooperative. Wood loves being the center of attention, what a ham!

With each Holiday I have the habit of sending family members cards with Wooden sporting some sort of costume. Kyle always rolls his eyes and says, "Poor pup!" Especially after the costume I put on Wooden this past Halloween. I figured we should show everyone how much we love France, so I dressed him up as a Frenchy. I will admit, even though Wooden posed for me, he didn't look to happy.

So for our Christmas card this year, I decided to go a little more low key. A simple Christmas bow would have to do, both Wooden and Kyle seemed happy with the choice. But after snapping a few shots, something was indeed missing! Thank goodness I brought back some props from the United States, a nice pair a reindeer antlers for Wooden to rock.

I placed the antlers on his head and he just looked up at me. I laughed because he looked so miserable that it was actually cute. I only took a few photos before he took the antlers off himself. Thank you Wooden for being such a good sport, it is much appreciated! And a warning to my unborn children, wait until I get to dress you up!

Such a nobel shot. The winning shot for our Christmas Card.

HAHA, he reminds me of Max from The Grinch here.
He looks so happy here, don't you think?
Wooden in his Halloween Costume.
Notes: Be sure to check out IG now through Friday, enter for your chance to win any Jeans and Tees and Travel and Cakes Skreened Shop Tee! To see Giveaway details check me out @megmccarrick 

Tuesday, December 11, 2012

The Holiday

Happy Tuesday Beautiful People! Hope the start of your week went off without a hitch. It is a chilly day here in Limoges and I am throughly enjoying my coffee this morning. I am excited because today Kyle and I will do some Christmas shopping and we will pick out our Christmas tree. I am hoping we don't have any problems like "The Crash of 2011", I will keep my fingers crossed.


In keeping up with Christmas traditions, Kyle and I watched one of our favorite Christmas flicks last night, The Holiday. I don't know why I love this movie but I can tell you that it did solidify my love for Kyle. Join me on this little trip down memory lane.

It was back in 2008, I was in South Bend visiting Kyle at University. We were in bed, I was asleep until Kyle was nudging me to wake up, I looked at him and then my phone, which read that it was 2:00a.m., was the apartment on fire or something. Why would he wake me up when I was dreaming of sugar plum fairies or something like that. Well to my surprise, Kyle woke me up to tell me that The Holiday was on television and he wanted me to watch it with him.

I looked at him a moment more and just smiled, what 21 year old guy, college student, star of an athlete loves The Holiday? Well it happened to be the guy laying next to me and that made me fall in love with him even more. I tried my hardest to stay up to watch with him, but soon fell back asleep.

A few weeks later on Christmas, my mother gave Kyle a gift, a copy of The Holiday on DVD so we could watch it whenever we wanted to. Now it has become a tradition not to watch in until after Thanksgiving, it has become one of my favorite things to do during the holiday season. I love to curl up next to my fiancé and watch a movie that takes me back to such a great memory.

Notes: Be sure to check me out on instagram @megmccarrick,  today starts the Jeans and Tees and Travel and Cakes Skreened Shop T-Shirt Giveaway! Don't miss your chance to win the JTTC's Skreened Shop Tee of your Choice!

Monday, December 10, 2012

Christmassy Spirit.

Hello Lovers, Happy Tuesday! Hope you are doing well, enjoying the Holiday Season with family and friends. I am currently in France, spending my first Christmas season abroad. I am a little sad that I won't be with Kyle's and my family, but it is really important to Kyle and I that we are together on Christmas.

With that said, my mission this December is to make our flat in Limoges feel just like home, making sure we keep up with some family holiday traditions. There are three boxes from the United States making their way to our place, filled with little things that will help us get into the Christmas Spirit. I have to say Limoges does do a great job of getting Kyle and I feeling Christmassy, their downtown is lit up like a winter wonderland, so beautiful.

While I was home in New York, I saved my Starbucks cups (Cleaning them of course.) and brought some back with me, along with a few pounds of their ground coffee. I thought it would make both Kyle and I feel like we weren't missing out on our beloved Starbucks, and the Christmas cups really make me smile.

As I always say, it really is the little things in life that can turn any ordinary day into an extraordinary day.


Enjoying our coffee. 
It Feels good to be back to blogging, to be honest I needed a little break because my  T-Shirt shop has really taken off, which is a good thing but it took me away from my daily posts. If you would like to check out my shop which bears the same name as here click the link JeansTeesTravelCakes Skreened Shop .

I also run a monthly T-Shirt Giveaway on Instagram! So if you would like the chance to win a sweet tee of your choice follow me on IG @megmccarrick. December's Giveaway starts tomorrow!

Have an amazing day!

 
Site Design By Designer Blogs