Snowed-In In Massachusetts

This past weekend I had three days off from work, so I decided to head home to Massachusetts for a few days. I booked my bus a while ago and was not prepared for the blizzard I would experience over the weekend! New York City has been pretty lucky this Winter, and while it has been freezing cold and icy, there hasn't been a ton of snow. I knew New England was getting hit a lot harder, but it was so shocking going home and seeing just how much snow there was! My town is on the beach, and we decided to drive around on Saturday before the snow got too bad, and it was actually really beautiful. The bay almost looked like Antarctica!

On Sunday there was another blizzard, and we got about 2 more feet of snow on top of the 5 feet we already had. We had a relaxing day in, and my mom and I made probably the most delicious pancakes I've ever had! We used a Bisquick mix, but decided to change it up a little and added blueberries, oatmeal, cinnamon, vanilla extract, and almonds. They were so amazing! And we also made some mimosas to go along with the pancakes. Check out how amazing they looked...

After enjoying the pancakes, my dad and I took our dog out and played in the snow a little bit. My dog is a labradoodle and being half poodle, she usually hates going in any type of water, snow included. But on Sunday, the lab side of her came out and she loved playing in the snow! It was so adorable watching her run around and have so much fun!

Look how high the snow is in our yard! For reference, I'm 5'6" and the snow piles were even taller than me!

my house peeking out from behind the huge piles of snow!

Since it was so snowy, we couldn't do too much, so we relaxed and watched a bunch of movies. Over the weekend, I watched Gone Girl, 22 Jump Street, My Life In Ruins, and Let's Be Cops. I really enjoyed all of the movies! I had seen 22 Jump Street before and loved watching it again. My favourite was Gone Girl because I thought it really stayed true to the book, the acting was amazing, and it was so suspenseful!

a nice relaxing fire while having a movie marathon

Meanwhile, this was the view looking outside...

This weekend was also Valentine's Day, so we exchanged gifts! I got some delicious chocolate and a scratch ticket that won $10!

On Monday, before heading to the bus station, my mom and I went to see 50 Shades of Grey. We both read the books, and the movie was actually better than we expected! It wasn't as graphic as the book, but I thought they portrayed the story well, and I think Dakota Johnson did a great job playing Ana.

Now I'm back in New York City, settling back into the work week after a nice weekend at home. I saw that Massachusetts got even more snow today and is expecting more this week, so I can't even imagine how crazy it will be a week from now! I'm pretty grateful New York City hasn't been hit with the same amounts of snow as Boston. And on the bright side, it's getting closer and closer to Spring, so hopefully it will start warming up soon!

"The Five People You Meet In Heaven"

Recently, I read "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and completely loved it. I'm sure you've heard of this book. It was extremely popular when it was first released, but for some reason I had convinced myself that I wouldn't like it. I think because it sounds like the story would be very focused on religion, and I'm not a religious person. So I decided not to read the book until a few weeks ago and realised how wrong I had been! I finished the book in less than two days and did not want to put it down!

To give you a quick synopsis on the book, it is about an old man named Eddie who works in maintenance at a small amusement park. When he was young, his father had been the maintenance man at that same amusement park, and Eddie always thought he would do bigger things with his life. But after his father got sick, Eddie took over for him and before he knew it, his life was nearly over and he didn't feel like he had lived up to his potential. One day, Eddie is at work and a roller coaster malfunctions. He tries to save a little girl from being hurt, but in doing so, he gets killed in the accident. After that, the book follows Eddie's journey into heaven where he meets five people who had some sort of impact on his life. We learn more about Eddie as a kid, his rocky relationship with his father, his relationship with his wife, and his experience fighting in the war. There are so many emotions in this book, and you will feel every emotion while reading it!

The Five People You Meet in Heaven was written by Mitch Albom, who is the same man who wrote Tuesdays With Morrie. I read Tuesdays with Morrie when I was in high school and really loved it. The Five People You Meet in Heaven is done in a similar style. It's descriptive, but still beautifully written, and you're really able to visualise everything that's happening in the story as you read. Something else great about the book is how quick of a read it is! It is less than 200 pages, so it is a perfect book to read on your way to work if you commute on a train like I do. I would definitely recommend reading The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and after loving it so much, I am planning to read more books written by Mitch Albom in the future!