Don't Blink You Might Miss It

Ever since Memorial Day weekend the weeks have been flying by! I blink -- its Friday, blink again and its Monday! I feel like I am hamster running on a wheel. While most of the activities that have kept us busy have been fun things, I cant help but feel like I can never catch up and its beginning to exhaust me to the point where even the "fun activities" feel like work. No matter how hard I try I cant seem to find the balance between housework, groceries, exercise, work and fun activities. Our weekend are jammed with trips to the shore, wedding stuff, and Phillies games. While fun, these things leave me feeling fat, tired, and behind on Monday morning. We have no groceries, laundry piled up, have not exercised at all.... so how do you do it? How do you balance all of the things that you need to accomplish and still have fun weekends during a season that is all too short on the east coast? I feel like I just need a reboot. I need to get back to healthy eating, exercising, a clean house, an early bed time, and laundry put away but all I keep saying is -- I'll start that Monday.. and Monday turns to the following Monday... and so the summer rolls by. This week I truely intend to get caught up -- but we'll see how it goes. Ok.. ending rant.

Wedding Update:
I found my dress! It's perfect and just what I had envisioned for myself. As a matter of fact I realized the other day that it was very similar to the first dress I ever pinned to my wedding board on Pintrest. Its funny how "the one" just feels right on you. It fits me almost perfectly and I am so excited to see it once it comes in! This week we also took our engagement pictures around City Hall in Philadelphia. I am anxiously awaiting the sneak peak to come up online.. so more on that later! At this point we have all of the major stuff done so I am so excited to start working on all of the little details that make the wedding personal!

Excersise Update:
I am loving going to Pilates, and have faithfully been attending one morning a week; but Pilates one day a week is not going to get me wedding ready. I was doing so well before the summer, but then fell off the band wagon. I am going to try and get on the right track again this week and hopefully keep up on my workout page. xx fingers crossed.

Life Update

Its been a while since I posted due to my new found hobby and time suck: wedding planning and some other general distractions. Here is a little synopsis of what I've been up to since my last post.

* Joe and I decided on our church and venue for the wedding almost immediately after getting engaged. As it was, there weren't many dates left for 2014 We chose August 2, 2014, which will be beautiful and warm hopefully! We are getting married at a Catholic church and our reception will be at a winery in Rochester, NY.

* April 26th Joe and I ran the United Cerebral Palsy 5K. Thanks to our family and friends we raised quite a bit of money. We also took 5 minutes off last years race time! I found it a lot easier this year, I guess with Pilate's and working out,  I am in much better shape then I was last year. Still, because  I didn't stretch well enough, I ended up pulling a groin muscle and that has been very painful, slow to heal, and is currently cutting into my work out routine (see work out page)

* A few weekends ago I went to a wedding shower for my friend Shannon and this weekend is her bachelorette party in NYC, I am coupling this with  a visit with Toni and my brother. I am very excited to see both of them!

*  This past weekend I flew to Rochester to work on wedding stuff. I never realized how much time all this wedding stuff takes. Every detail is a phone call, a meeting, 5 emails and a follow up. Even with the wedding being over a year away, we really need to get everything sorted out soon, because Rochester is small market with limited vendors and the best ones seem to be booking up fast.With the help of my mom I found photographer to shoot the wedding who I really liked who was very reasonably priced. I also went and checked out two different hotels, and found the hotel that will host our room block. I am thankful we got these things accomplished so I am a little less stressed!

*A few weeks ago scheduled our engagement pictures. They will be shot here in Philadelphia in June, which is fast approaching. At first I was super excited about these pictures, but as the date nears, I am stressed out by the thought of being in front of the camera. Not only can I currently not work out due to leg injury mentioned above, I cant find a dress that I like enough to wear in the pictures. I had planned to work out hard for the next 50 days so that I would feel skinny and pretty for the pictures, but now that cant happen for at least a week or two.  I can feel myself getting super critical of myself, my body, every flaw and I really have never been that type of girl! The pressure of sending a picture of myself for all my friends and family to hang up on their fridge and look at for the next year is really getting to me. I have this image in my head of how I want to look -- and lately nothing just seems to be matching up. Hopefully, with the help of Toni in NYC this weekend, I can find a dress that will make me feel slightly better about the situation.

That's whats going on here. Hope all is well with everyone else!

Our Engagement Story

On March 15th weekend I flew up to Rochester for a visit; I had been planning the trip for a couple weeks prior since I hadn't seen my grandparents since Christmas. I had asked Joe if he wanted to come, but he said he wanted to stay in Philadelphia for St. Patricks Day. So, I booked a flight by myself, angry that he did not want to join me.

That day, I worked a half day and then went to the airport to find my flight delayed about an hour due to weather in other parts of the country. Since I had extra time,  I decided to change out of my work clothes and put on some makeup (this would prove to be a valuable choice later in the evening). When I arrived in Rochester, my dad picked me up from the airport; we had planned to meet my mom for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants, Tony D's. Tony D's has a beautiful view overlooking downtown Rochester and the Genesee River and has the best Italian food ever.

When we got to dinner, my mom was waiting for us at a table on the covered deck overlooking the water. I sat down and ordered a drink and began to chat with my parents. My phone rang and it was Joe, I begrudgingly answered and he said he had just arrived home from work and was making dinner (this made me angry all over again). He casually asked how the weather was, as it had been snowing earlier in the day. I turned around and looked out the window to check the weather,  and there he was.. standing on the river with the most beautiful 2 dozen roses I have ever seen! In the time that I had worked and flown to Rochester, he had driven there!

I got my coat on and walked outside. He handed me the flowers, and we walked a little down the river for what felt like an eternity, but was probably only 400 or 500 ft. At the edge of the river, he got down on one knee and asked me to marry him. I said yes and the whole restaurant of people started clapping and pounding on the glass windows! It was a perfect moment and one that I will remember for the rest of my life! We walked back inside to eat dinner and celebrate and call everyone. I don't think I got to eat one bite of the Italian food I was looking forward to so much!

One thing I must say is how impressed I was with the thought and effort that he put into the engagement. Sure, proposing on the  trip to Vegas would have been fun story, or a night out in Philly at an extravagant restaurant. But he knows me.. and he knows that the place I hold most dear to my heart is my home and nothing meant more then being able to share that moment with the people that matter most in my life -- my family, who I don't see enough of these days. I will remember that night for the rest of my life.

Here's to love, laughter and happily ever after.. hopefully.. hahha

Family Meeting and Family Vacation

The first week in February my family planned to take a family vacation to Aruba. My parents flew down to Philadelphia the day before the trip because I had arranged for them to meet Joe's family for the first time. I know what you're thinking, we've been together forever and have been living together for over a year and our families hadn't met? It wasn't that we didn't want them to. Its just we never found a time that was convenient for both of them. So, the night before the trip, we all went out to dinner in Manayunk. Joe and I were both pretty nervous but everything went very smoothly and they all seemed to really enjoy each other's company. Phew.. check that off the list.

The next morning my parents and I flew to Aruba and met up with my brother. We made it out just in time before they shut down both the Philly and NYC airport. We arrived in Aruba mid afternoon on Friday. We were staying at the same place that Joe and I stayed at when we went in March 2010, the Marriott Stellaris. We spent the majority of the days lounging by the pool or beach. One of the days we went snorkeling on old pirate ship style boat. The ship even had a rope swing where you could hang on and swing out into the water. Another day, we went on the jeep tour that Joe and I had also done the last time we were there. Our neighbors (at my parents house) were also in Aruba so we spent a few days hanging out with them. Each night we went to a nice dinner, the picture above is from our dinner at Simply fish. A beach side restaurant where your table is right on the sand!


We had a wonderful time and it was great to spend 7 days as a family.

Pilates Party of One

After my attempt at spinning, I was still on the hunt for an exercise routine that would break up the monotony of the gym. I had heard many good things about Pilates and decided shortly before Christmas that I would ask for Pilates classes from Santa. I found a Pilates studio in Manayunk that offered a combination of private lessons and mat classes as a package called "get to know Pilates". I thought this would be a perfect way see if it was something I would enjoy. I think learning at your own pace and getting personalized attention is the key to enjoying and feeling successful at a new exercise routine. Looking back, I think that is why I did not find spinning enjoyable, I jumped right in and did too much too fast.

The Monday after New Years was my first private lesson. After work, I met the instructor/owner Jen at the studio. Jen practices classical Pilates. For those of you who don't know, Pilates is a body conditioning routine that helps build flexibility, muscle strength, and endurance in the legs, abs arms, hips, and back. It puts emphasis on spinal and pelvic alignment, breathing, and developing a strong core or center, and improving coordination and balance. Classical Pilates focuses on the original teachings of its creator, Joseph Pilates. Joseph Pilates originally developed his method as mat exercises but subsequently added several pieces of apparatus to help people "get the method in their bodies".

This week in my private lesson, we continued to work  on the apparatuses in order to get the hang of things. This is my first time working one on one with an instructor and I love the personal attenion. Jen makes sure that I am doing all of the moves correctly and modifys them to my level.

 The funny thing is, at the end of the work out you arent sweaty or tired, the way you feel when you leave the gym. However, the next day you are sore even though it seems like you didnt do much. Two lessons down I am loving Pilates and looking forward to the next lesson. I think it definitely going to be something I stick with in the future.I'll keep you posted when I join mat class.

Happy 2013

Whew.. its been a whirlwind holiday season! The last few weeks in December got so busy I never got a chance to write a Christmas blog. I had a nice Christmas at home in Rochester with my family! Joe and I traveled up the weekend before Christmas for the family Christmas Party that my parents hosted for my extended family. The party rotates to a different house each year, and this year was our turn to host. We had a great time and Santa even stopped by so we could tell him what we really wanted for Christmas! You are never too old to have a little heart to heart with Santa.

The day after the party Joe headed back to NJ to be with his family and I stayed with my family in Rochester. We had a quiet Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with my grandparents. After Christmas I returned to Philadelphia for a wedding. Joe's best friend got married in NJ and Joe was the best man. We had a great time at their wedding. The food and venue were spectacular and the bride looked great! 

A couple days later we rang in the new year in Central NJ with a few of Joe's college friends. It was low key and a good end to a long holiday season.

 The one thing that bothered me about this holiday season is family members/friends constantly questioning when Joe and I would get engaged/married/have babies. Don't get me wrong, I want all of those things (in that order), but it sort of made me feel like all of my successes are nothing unless I am married and popping out children. If I knew the answers to any of those questions, I would be a mind reader so I am not sure what they are hoping to gain by reminding me that time is passing and I am not getting any younger , if not to make me feel bad? I feel very lucky to be in the place I am in right now.. and I know all of these things will come soon so I am not worried.. but having to continually answer those questions over and over is quite tiring. Did any one else experience this? Ok ending rant.. 

I am looking forward to all 2013 has in store and I think it is going to be a fantastic year. I have a few New Years resolutions that I am intending on keeping, but we'll see since I am never very good at this:

1. Like everyone says: Go to the gym and hopefully loose the 20+ lbs I've gained since freshman year of college. 

2. Pay off credit cards completely each month.

3. Find a suitable hobby. 

What are your resolutions? 

Happy 2013! 

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

This Christmas Joe and decided to commemorate our first year of living together by decorating the house for our first Christmas together. Earlier this week we went to a Christmas tree stand  that popped up at a church in our neighborhood and picked out the perfect live tree. When we got home, Christmas music blasting, we decorated it with some ornaments that I had bought at Homegoods. My mom has been saving ornaments for me over the years but since I flew back to Philadelphia after Thanksgiving I couldn't take those with me, which made me sad. These generic ornaments will have to do for now. I love the smell of a fresh Christmas Tree and the warmth a lit tree brings to your home.

Next I decided to make a cute new centerpiece for the coffee table with some pine scented pine cones I found at Homegoods, a new bowl, and a candle I had lying around.

 

Lastly, Joe put up some outside lights.

 

Hope your enjoying the start of the Christmas season as much as I am!!

 

Giving Thanks

Before I head home for Thanksgiving tomorrow I wanted to make sure I get in my annual 'giving thanks' post because in this day in age it is sometimes easier to focus on what we don't have instead of what we do. Here is what I am thankful for this year:

1. My family always first and foremost.. my parents who always support me, my brother who I hope to visit in NYC  after the holidays, and my grandparents who are still alive and healthy for the most part.

2. My wonderful boyfriend who I have been living with for 9 months officially. We have our ups and downs but overall he is pretty great and I am so lucky to have him.

3. My friends - although a lot of my friendships have changed in the last year I am so lucky to still have girlfriends who stand by me no matter what. I hope that in the coming year we can still work hard to maintain close friendships because its great to have a boyfriend but it is so important to have girlfriends.

4. My beautiful house which I have officially owned for 3 years.. cant believe it. I have put so much effort into making it beautiful and I am so proud of it.

5. Traveling: this year I went skiing in Park City Utah with my family, to Florida with my mom and to San Diego and Vegas with Joe. I am a very lucky girl to have been able to experience so many of the wonderful places this world has to offer.

6. My job -- I am so thankful for a wonderful boss who treats me well and a stable job in this economy.. and for my wonderful work friend who keeps me sane most days.

7. I am so thankful that I can still go to the place that I truly call home - Rochester  to celebrate thanksgiving with the ones I love and get a nice break from daily life.

See you after thanksgiving and where ever life lands you this thanksgiving make sure to count your blessings.

Spinning for Hurricane Relief

The past few months I have been feeling stuck in a rut. The excitement of summer has long since passed and I have started to feel like the hamster running on the wheel and doing the same things over and over again... sleep.. work.. make dinner.. sleep .. rinse repeat. Yes, maybe that's an exaggeration which is really punctuated by a few dinners out with friends and nights out with Joe, but all of this is really just the same old. For awhile I have been in search of a new hobby; something I could really enjoy, pour my heart into, and also use as a way to break up the long work week and stay active. I have been trying to go to the gym; but I ultimately find the routine of treadmill and weights fairly boring as well. It also annoys me that the gym is sort of solitary and after spending a day alone in a cubicle it would be nice to find something that involves interacting with other people instead of being alone with your thoughts and the songs blaring on your ipod. So while I was perusing Facebook last week, (my ultimate hobby) and came across an event that I thought would be fun to try. The Wall Indoor Cycling Studio on Main St., here in Manayunk, was offering free spin classes if you came with donations for hurricane victims of Island Park, NY on Long Island. I thought this benefit was a great cause and would be a perfect excuse to try spinning for the first time. I convinced my friend Allie to come with me, as she had never did a spinning class before either. Saturday morning at 8:45 am, with donations in hand, we headed off to give it a try.

When we got there I was pleasantly surprised that most of the people taking the class appeared to be women around our age. We were the only people who were new to spinning but the instructor was really nice and helped us set up our bikes. The first few songs, I was feeling pretty great.. and then she said that "warm up was over"..wait this was only warm up??! The class was about 45 minutes long and the speed, resistance and your position on the bike depended on the beat of the particular song that was playing at the time. For example, during a fast song you may pedal really fast at a low resistance whereas during a slow song you could be pedaling at a high resistance very slowly. It also varied between sitting on the seat and standing. It was one of the hardest cardio work outs I have ever done. At the end I felt energized like I was going to die!! My rear end is killing me from the bike seat and my calves are burning something fierce. It is 36 hrs later and it still kills to walk. 

My overall review is that I think spinning has potential to be fun and a nice way to meet people once you get used to the work out and build up the leg strength for it. I read online that the bike seat hurting your behind goes away in time. I don't think I could do spinning as my only form of working out, but I think it would be really nice to do once a week on a Saturday morning like we did this Saturday. Lets be honest - once a week is probably all my calves are going to be able to take. 

I still don't think that this is something I 'love' as a hobby but I might sign up for a few more classes because it was a great work out. At any rate,  so I am still in search of something that peaks my interest and is actually enjoyable. While I was at Wegmans today, I bought a yoga mat and am thinking of attending a Pilate's class next.... I will let you know how it goes! 

If anyone has any interesting hobbies they would recommend.. feel free to comment! Have you ever done spinning? Did you like it? 

My Best Friends Wedding

This past weekend Joe and I were in our good friends Sara and Steve's wedding. The wedding weekend started out with a rehearsal followed by dinner at Chloe. The restaurant shut down for the private event and prepared a meal that was specially requested by the bride and groom. It was fantastic. That night, the girls slept in the penthouse suite of the Omni hotel where the wedding was to be held the next day. The guys slept at my house with Joe in Manayunk. The penthouse was amazing! It was about 2,000 square feet with two bedrooms a huge living room and full dining room. The next morning the girls woke up bright and early (6am) for hair and make-up. I absolutely loved my up-do which I had found on Pintrest.

Around 10am the group gathered for pictures before the wedding. The ceremony began at 12:30 and I was much more nervous then I thought I was going to be walking down the isle. It was also weird to see Joe standing at the other end... kinda foreshadowing for my someday wedding. Sara looked radiant! Her dress, hair and make-up were perfect. I also really liked the dresses that she chose for the bridesmaids as well as the flowers. The cocktail hour and reception were really fun--and afterwords we went out to the bar for some after wedding cocktails. I wish them nothing but the best in the future and enjoyed being part of their special day.

Duel Vacation: Las Vegas by Way of San Diego - Part 2

On Thursday morning Joe and I woke up bright and early to start the 380 mile drive from San Diego to Las Vegas. The route takes you north towards LA and then East through the Mojave Desert into Las Vegas. The drive was peaceful and uneventful. We didn't hit much traffic leaving San Diego and once we got to the desert it was clear sailing at 85 miles per hour.. what should have taken us 5 hours only took 4. There is no speed limits out there!! Being in the middle of the salt flats in the Mojave has redefined the meaning of middle of no where for me! There was nothing around for miles!! We had fun "testing" the speed and endurance of our Mustang though and it was definitely something to see!

 

 

Around 2:30 pm we arrived in Las Vegas and returned our rental car. Joe then surprised me with a limo ride down the Las Vegas strip to our hotel! He had stopped at a convenience store and bought some beers and had the limo take us all the way down the strip. It was a great way to experience Vegas for the first time! We checked in at the Wynn Encore and were amazed at how beautiful our suite was!! We had a room on the 23rd floor overlooking the strip and the pool... It was a two room suite with a bedroom and living room with a couch. It also had the biggest bathroom I have ever experienced. The bathroom had a jacuzzi and a shower and a separate room for the toilet. There was even a TV in the bathroom. The entire room was controlled by a panel next to your bed where you could turn on the lights, close the shades, make reservations etc. We were like kids in a toy store when it came to playing with the shades and the lights. The remainder of our day was spent sitting by the pool. We had dinner at an Asian place at the Wynn called Wing Lei. It was pretty good -- but wasn't my favorite meal we had while in Vegas. After dinner we went to see Beatles Love Cirque du Soliel. It was a good show -- a lot of people raved about it but I thought it was just ok and probably not worth the money we paid for it. After the show,  Joe took me to the Ghost Bar at the Palms which was a roof top bar from which you could see the entire strip. We had fun relaxing and looking out over the city -- but around 2 am we got pretty tired and decided to call it a night.

 

View from Ghost Bar

The next day Joe wanted to take me to some of the other casinos and shops along the strip. We walked around the strip in the morning and ate lunch at Otto at the Venetian, a Mario Betali pizzaria. After lunch it was getting hot so we decided to head back to the pool. Some of the pools in Las Vegas are considered day clubs and our hotel had one such pool. We decided to check out the Encore Beach club which was pretty crazy. There were no lounge chairs, your only option was to hang in the pool listening to the DJ and watching the insane water dance party. We had a great time chilling in the pool and drinking and people watching. That night we ate dinner at Sage, which was probably my favorite meal in Vegas.  Sage is classified as "artisan American" so they have unique twists on their menu. For an appetizer we had a slow poached organic farm egg that came with smoked potatoes, black truffles, and country toast for dipping. It sounds strange, but it was phenomenal. For dinner, we split the Prime rib for two... also tasty. After dinner, we had gotten tickets for one of Vegas's premier night clubs which happened to be at our hotel, Tryst. Tryst was so much fun and was a beautiful club; it is an indoor/outdoor club with a huge waterfall outside. We had a great time drinking and dancing there.




In front of the waterfall @ Tryst

On our last full day in Las Vegas, we spent most of the morning sitting by the pool -- the non-club relaxing pool. That afternoon we went to the Billagio for some gambling and an early dinner at their buffet. That night, we went to XS, the other night club at our hotel where Calvin Harris was DJing. It was a good time, but soon got way crowded and Joe and I decided to call it a night. We were getting tired from all of the fun on this trip.
The next morning we woke up and spent the morning by the pool before our flight back to Philadelphia. It was a wonderful trip and I am so glad we decided to go two different places and do a little bit of relaxing, a little bit of site seeing and a little bit of getting our dance on!

 

Duel Vacation: Las Vegas by way of San Diego - Part 1

A few months ago, as Joe and I sat talking about what we wanted to do for a vacation this year we threw around many ideas, among them, the Bahamas, Bermuda, St. Lucia, Las Vegas and San Diego. I was really pushing for something tropical, romantic, and relaxing and Joe really thought that after a summer spent at the shore and on my boat, we wouldn't really want to lay on the beach with nothing else to do. Not to mention the Bahamas and Bermuda are both incredibly pricey and we wanted to stay for an entire week. Joe loves Vegas, he has been there many times, I have never been. However, we both thought that 7 days in Vegas would be too long and too expensive. We started researching San Diego, a place both of us had never been. We decided that San Diego had a lot to do but also not enough to fill 7 days... thus the idea of Vegas by way of San Diego was born.. the perfect mix of relaxing and exciting.

We left Philadelphia on Labor Day and landed in San Diego around lunch time. We rented a 2012, red, Mustang convertible for our stay in San Diego so that we could get around. We decided to stay at the Marriott Coronado Island because I had enough Marriott points to get 2 out of our 3 nights there completely free. I cannot say enough good things about this hotel. The grounds were beautiful situated right on the San Diego Bay. Our balcony room overlooked the bay and downtown San Diego as well as the hotel pool - it was perfect. The first day we got there we were pretty excited about our flashy new whip so we tooled around Coronado with the top down and stopped for some lunch at the Coronado Brewing Company. After lunch, we unpacked and spent some time at the pool sleeping in the sun. The 3am wake up call for our flight that morning was really starting to catch up with us. That night, we had dinner reservations at a restaurant in downtown San Diego called Bertrand's at Mister A's. Mister A's was on the top floor of a building in the financial district and overlooked the whole city and the bay. The view was fantastic as was the food and service. After dinner we were pretty tired but we decided to check out a sky bar in the gas lamp district called Altitude Sky Bar. It was a relaxing outdoor lounge on the top of the Marriott Gas Lamp District and overlooked the whole city. It was also beautiful.

View from Mr. A's

The next day we decided to spend the day driving around the area to see the sights. Our first stop was Old Town San Diego where we walked around an out door museum depicting the history of San Diego from the time of the Spanish settlers to early America. After we walked around for a while, we sat down and had an authentic Mexican lunch at Fiesta De Reyes which had some of the best hard shell tacos I have ever had. 

Old Town San Diego

After lunch it was off to our second stop of the day La Jolla, California. La Jolla was beautiful. We drove around La Jolla on Ocean Drive pretty much taking in the beautiful coastal scenery. Mansions were on cliffs overlooking the ocean..expensive shops everywhere. It was seriously paradise. If I was a house this is where I would want to be built: on rock facing the sea.....

La Jolla, CA

After driving and touring all day we decided to go back to San Diego for dinner. The concierge recommended a restaurant called The Fish Market. It was a casual seafood place overlooking the bay. We had the "Famous Dungeness Crab Seafood Ciopinno" which was basically a mix of seafood in a red sauce over pasta and it was fabulous. After dinner, we rolled home, exhausted.

The final day in San Diego we decided to stay on Coronado Island and go check out the beach at a famous hotel built in the 1800's called Hotel Del Coronado. We spent a few hours laying on the beautiful beach but it was hot and we did not have an umbrella. The only thing about the Pacific ocean we didn't like is that the water is cold and full of seaweed. None the less, we had a great time. The Del was beautiful and interesting to see such a historic hotel. We got some ice cream there after the beach and walked around the grounds. We would have loved to stay here, but we couldn't pass up our free room at the Marriott! 

Later that evening we decided to go to a place the concierge had recommended called Sunset Cliffs to watch the sunset. It was stunning seeing the sunset over the ocean --which you cant do on the East Coast. After sunset we caught dinner in the Little Italy area of San Diego which was cute and quaint and the food was fantastic. Our last outing was to a wine bar in the gas lamp district called Vin De Syrah and was modeled after Alice in Wonderland. In order to enter, you had to find the door handle hidden in the grass. It was so cool. The decor inside was like stepping into a fairytale. Very cute!

Sunset Cliffs

Looking for the entrance @ Vin De Syrah!

All and all San Diego far exceeded our expectations. We had a fantastic time there and would highly recommend it to anyone! Stay tuned for Part 2 of this trip including our drive to the Mojave Desert and and Las Vegas.... 

Girls Just Want to Have Fun

The past few weekends have been so busy again! Time is really flying these days. Two weekends ago Toni, Michele, Sara and I headed down to Dewey Beach for a little girls weekend away and had a great time!! I am glad we got to spend some time sans boys and lay in the sun, drink and gossip. I hope that even as time passes, we can still make effort to bridge the gaps in geography and circumstance and make time for each other. Since Toni did such a great review of the trip, I will skip the play by play.

This past weekend I hosted Sara's bachelorette party.  I rented two rooms at the Sheraton Society Hill Philadelphia for everyone to stay over. One of the other bridesmaids and I decorated the rooms with typical bachelorette party paraphernalia, snacks and lots of alcohol. The maid of honor even brought homemade fruit infused vodkas that made for some pretty banging martinis.

I had each girl bring a wrapped gift of lingerie for Sara that best represented their personality without putting their name on it. So once everyone was settled, I had Sara sit down and open all her new goodies and guess who gave her each one based on how it looked - naughty, nice etc. She did pretty well and got a lot of great little gifts for the honeymoon!

The Bridesmaids and Bride

Next, we headed to dinner at a BYOB Italian restaurant in the city for a bite to eat. The food was great and we polished off three large bottles of wine between 9 people which got us primed and ready for a fantastic night out.

Next we went to Duel, a dueling piano bar in center city. They really cater to bachelorette parties, we had a table that was front and center in front of the pianos. They have a lot of wedding themed drinks and play really fun music. They even called Sara up on stage and did a funny little roast for her which was the perfect balance of embarrassing and cute. You can request any song imaginable and they will play it for you on the piano -- we had a great time there.

At around 11 pm we headed on to our next stop, Plough and the Stars. This is one of my favorite dancing bars in Philadelphia and one that Sara and I had spent a lot of time at during our single years. I thought it was only fitting that she get Plough'd one more time before walking down the aisle. The music is good and its a really fun/crazy atmosphere. At this point everyone was hammered and fading fast and by 2am we were ready to head back to the hotel which was only a few blocks away.

Once we got back, I unveiled my last surprise of the party. I had made cute gift bags for everyone and a special treat for Sara. Included in these gift bags were little bottles of vodka, gum, raspberry Ghirardelli chocolates, a cucumber face mask, cherry chap sticks, and a Kind granola bar. I got the idea from this blog. I used some of the things they mention in their post and improvised a little. I think they came out super cute and everyone seemed to like receiving them.

For the bride I made a special gift:  I got her a tote bag with a bride on the front that she can use to carry things in on the day of the wedding . Inside was a bottle of Skinny Girl White Peach Margarita, a bachelorette picture frame signed with well wishes by the entire bachelorette party, bride and groom luggage tags and a "Soon to be Mrs. Penwarden sweatshirt" that she can wear the day of the wedding while getting ready! I thought it was pretty cute:

All and all the party was a great success and everyone seemed to have a great time. It is always stressful when you are planning something on behalf of someone else and are not sure how the group will interact. I think the key is in the details though, we had a lot of really great little details that turned an average night out into a great time and hopefully something she will remember for a long time!

Showers of Happiness

This past weekend was my friend and former roommate Sara's bridal shower which, as a bridesmaid, I have been helping plan for the last few months. I think everything turned out wonderful, despite my ultimate nervousness day of! Sara's mom chose a tea shop in Sara's home town to host the event. The tea shop provided a good assortment of sandwiches, quiche, and sides for lunch as well as teas both cold and hot. The  I felt no party would be complete sans alcohol, so the bridesmaids also prepared a pitcher of mimosa's for the guests to enjoy. It was a big hit with guests both young and old. It was a perfect drink for the occasion because it gave a festive feeling without being overpowering on such a hot afternoon.
I also wanted to share a few of the details that I worked on in order to make this a special day! I found that I have quite a knack for shower/bachelorette party planning and have enjoyed the process for the most part. I was in charge of the invitations. I chose to do a printed invitation from a website called Zazzle. Upon scrolling through pages of invitations, I fell in love with this one because of its subtle nod to Philadelphia's Love Park Statue.

On the front of each of the invitations, I included a personalized address label which I made on the computer and  again complimented our LOVE theme. (ok so maybe this isn't exactly what mine said hahah!!)

The bridesmaids and I looked at many different favor choices but ultimately decided to again stick with the LOVE park theme and went with a set of 4 glass coasters tied with a pretty silver ribbon that we found online. I thought this was a fun yet practical shower gift that people would actually use!





For shower games we decided to limit ourselves to two games so that they were fun but not too much where guests were annoyed by them. The first game we chose was the purse game. Everyone got a partner and a list of 50 things you'd typically find in a purse. The team with the most things on the list inside their purse won a gift basket. The next game was called 'present bingo'. We gave each guest a bingo board and had them fill the squares with presents they thought Sara would receive during present opening. As Sara opened gifts she announced each gift until someone had 5 in a row and yelled bingo. The games really brought out everyone's competitive side and I think everyone had fun!

The day was a lot of fun and Sara walked away with a lot of great gifts to start her new life with Steve. Showers of happiness to both of you for a long, healthy, and happy life together!!





Summertime and the livin is easy....

Wow, my blog has fallen off the planet, I have been so busy... time is flying.  The month of June was filled with many fun activities begginning with the Bike Race which is every year on the first weekend in June. This year Joe and I threw a huge party for all of our friends. The weather was perfect and everyone had a great time - I cant believe that this was our 5th year at the Bike Race -- crazy!! The following weekend, Joe and I went down to the shore to visit his family and celebrate his mom's birthday. We also went and checked out the new casino in Atlantic city, the Revel, that everyone has been talking about. We had a good time checking it out but I am not sure that it was any better then any of the other 20 casinos in AC.

The highlight of my weekend at the shore was bringing the ingredients for a truffle pizza and making it for Joe's family in their brick pizza oven. Do you think I have a career in the pizza business? The above pizza has truffle oil, shitake mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, roasted red peppers, fontina cheeze, topped with thyme and parmesan cheese.. so good!

On June 26th -- Chez Terrace had its 3rd birthday under current ownership! I cant believe I have owned the house for three whole years! Since I bought the house with the 2009 tax credit-- staying 3 years also means I can keep the money that the government gave me should I decide to sell. This is a big milestone!

On the last weekend in June Joe and I went to Rochester for our annual 4th of July visit. It was great to see all my family and Rochester friends. We arrived on a Friday night flight and spent Saturday and Sunday on the boat relaxing in the sunshine with my family and my friend Meg. On Monday we went and saw Ted at the Vintage Drive-In Movies. It is so nice watching a movie under the stars! Its sad that the drive-in is almost an extinct animal.. its a really simple way to enjoy a great summer night! On Wednesday night we attended the annual 4th of July Pig Roast at my neighbors house, and had a great time swimming in their pool and eating yummy food!

Oh last thing, while we were in Rochester we celebrated a very special 20th Birthday! Happy 20th Birthday to Daisy Bird who spent the day drinking vodka and hanging out with her duck friends:

Pintrest Projects

Pintrest is the ultimate time suck I would say. Even more the Facebook becuase not only is the parusing of Pintrest time consuming, most of the projects on the site consume time as well. Here are two projects I recently completed:

1. Chalk Board Painted Herb Pots

2. Polka Dot Tiered Planter

Both of these projects were a lot of work, by the time all the purchasing and painting was completed. That aside, I think they came out really cute! I am in love with them. Now, here is to hoping that some drunk Manayunker doesnt smash my hard work in some drunken rage.

On that note, I have decided to stay off Pintrest for the forseeable future.

Life Without Limits

A few months ago I was surfing the web for volunteer opportunities when I came across United Cerebral Palsy's website. While they didn't have any volunteer opportunities available that would fit in to my schedule, however,  they were advertising a 5K set for April 26th which began and ended at the Philadelphia Art Museum. United Cerebral Palsy is an organization which I am incredibly passionate about.  UCP educates, advocates and provides support services to ensure a life without limits for people with a spectrum of disabilities, including, but not limited to CP. While my case is mild, some cases can be severe and incredibly debilitating. I thought a 5K would be a perfect way to improve my own health as well as give back to the organization. The race was for people of all abilities, including wheel chair participants. I figured this would be a perfect way to break my 5K virginity without feeling intimidated. I created a donations page, and began a sporadic gym regiment.

On the day of the race, I was nervous. I had never ran more then a mile at any one time on the treadmill and now 3.1 were ahead of me. Joe was confident that I could do it, and we set a goal to complete it under 55 minutes and only walk if absolutely necessary. 

Prerace

Mid Race - I look like I am going to die

As we ran,  I looked around at the people using walkers and wheelchairs and felt lucky just to have the ability to be running in a 5k. My life could have turned out much differently if I had been wheel chair bound. Even though my life has had its fair share of challenges, I've gone though nothing compared to some of the people that surrounded me that day. I continue to feel blessed by everything I have and have been able to accomplish, despite my disability. I may not have been the fastest that day, but I ran, and I finished in 47 minutes.....13 minutes ahead of my personal goal. Joe and I raised $455 for UCP through donations from our friends and family. Thank you to all of you for your support and to Joe for running along side me and being encouraging the whole way. I plan to complete this race again next year with a goal of under 30 minutes. 

All done!

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us"

Art Museum

Center City at Night

Caution Wet Paint

I keep meaning to do this, but I have been busy, so tonight I am finally making it a point to share some of the home stuff I have been hard at work with lately. I know most of you probably remember that when I moved into Terrace Street, the entire house was painted yellow with the exception of the two upstairs bathrooms, which were painted sage green. I grew tired of everything yellow so I decided to have a painter come and paint a few weeks ago. I think everything came out wonderful, and it has made it feel new... its "our" home now.

To start we changed the den from a yellow to a gold color. It had to stay in the yellow family because it is right at the top of the stairs and is sort of an awkward room between the stairs and the upstairs hallway which are painted yellow still. It is also a fairly small room, so we wanted to keep it light. You cant tell in the picture, but it is a few shades darker then it once was. Moving along, we changed the master bath from sage green to a calming sea blue, it is the most restful color for a bathroom. Next, we had fun in Joes man cave. We painted 3 walls sand color and one wall bright red. We also got a really great area rug from overstock, and it looks like a brand new space! We both love that room best. Finally, in Joes bathroom we picked a deeper, manlier, blue. He picked this color, I like it, and it made him happy. So, win win.

On a side note, for the den I also puchased a ladder shelf from Amazon. It leans against the wall like a ladder. I have had some fun decorating it in the past few days with things from Ikea. I still have to find pictures for the picture frames but I think it came out really cute. See the video of before and after pictures below! Let me know what you think!!!! xoxo.

Digital slideshow personalized with Smilebox

#GoodnightOTH

“It’s the oldest story in the world, one day you’re seventeen and planning for ‘some day’, and then quietly and without you ever really noticing, ‘some day’ is today… and then ‘some day’ is yesterday, and this is your life. We spend so much time wanting, pursuing, wishing, but ambition is good. Chasing things with integrity is good, dreaming. If you had a friend you knew you’d never see again, what would you say? If you could do one last thing for someone you love, what would it be? Say it, don’t wait. Nothing lasts forever. Make a wish and place it in your heart. Anything you want, everything you want. Do you have it? Good. Now believe it can come true, you never know where the next miracle’s gonna come from. The next memory, the next smile, the next wish come true. If you believe that it’s right around the corner, and you open your heart and your mind to the possibility of it, to the certainty of it, you just might get the thing you’re wishing for, the world is full of magic, you just have to believe in it. So make your wish. Do you have it? Good. Now believe in it, with all your heart”.- One Tree Hill.


For the last time, Wednesday night at 8 pm, I sat down to watch my favorite show, One Tree Hill. I know, most people think its corny but I started watching nine years ago, after my then favorite show, Dawsons Creek ended. In 167 episodes, and nine seasons, this show accompanied me from highschool graduate to college graduate, to LATE 20's.  The show mirrored my life, as the characters went from highschool, to college, to post-college so did I. And while I do believe a lot of the things that happened on the show were far fetched, corny and hopelessly romantic, some part of me always wanted to believe in the world the way that it was portrayed on that show. Of course in the shows final episode everyone's story ended on a happy, sappy, greeting card rhyme. There is only one Tree Hill, after all.

I remember at Delaware, Megan and I watching in suspense in the dorm room freshman year and hanging a larger then llife size poster of Chad Michael Murray hanging outside my door. So much has changed since that time its unbelievable. I went from a high school senior in Rochester, to a college graduate of University of  Delaware, to a working girl in Philadelphia.  I met a guy, held two different jobs, bought a house, and moved in with my boyfriend.  And as the credits rolled on last nights episode, I couldnt help be a little sad. It was a reminder that I am no longer a young adult planning for 'someday'..  in the blink of an eye someday is today..  and most of the things I once wished for have come true. Heres to the end of an era.
#goodnightOTH -- thanks for the memories. #bittersweet

I need a new favorite show.... Sophia Bush (Brook Davis) has a pilot coming out that looks pretty good, I thnk I'll check that out.

While Philly Slept

beep.... beep... beep... I wake up with a start, its still dark out. I roll over and look at the clock.. this seemed like a better idea when I went to bed last night. It is not really that early for most of the world, but I am not a morning person, so for me it feels miserable to be rolling out of bed this early. Its 6am. I sleepily put on my yoga pants, tank top, and sneakers, brush my teeth, grab my water & ipod.. and with that, I am out the door.

Its 6:15 and I go out to empty quiet streets, with the exception of one man walking his dog. This is something I rarely see in Philadelphia. The world seems calm, most houses are still dark with their occupants far away in dream land. I am waking up as I drive, taking notice of how beautifully empty and not conjested the streets are at this time of day. I never really have been out this early to take advantage of that. My usual routine involves fighting hordes of traffic on an eight mile commute that takes upwards of forty minutes most mornings. I pull into the gym and look inside at the people who are already mid-workout. THOSE must be the real morning people, I thought to myself. I wonder what time they go to bed at night? Probably  not 11:30 pm like me.

I get on the treadmill and begin to run. I have been trying my damnedest to like running, but I really really don't inherently like it. I think I was about 10 minutes in before I actually started to enjoy myself. I finish my run incredibly slow jog, feeling energized. I do some stretching and some weights and I am out the door in record time. Its 7:20 and I head back to my house to shower and get ready for work. I get out of the shower feeling great, go downstairs to pack breakfast, lunch, and a to-go mug of coffee. Its 8:00 am and I am out the door again. The streets are crowded this time. Philly has woken up.. and cars clog the narrow, hilly streets of the Yunk. I flip on Q102 and DJ Pauly D is being interviewed. Wow, I feel great today I thought to myself. I never feel that way, usually I am just waking up as the first car cuts me off in the traffic jam.  Today is going to be a great day.

There are so many pros to going to the gym in the AM before work:
1. Far less crowded, can do a better work out in half the time
2. Afternoons are free to do what you please. I hate feeling like I need to go somewhere else after work. When I am done with work, I just want to go home and eat dinner and relax.
3. I am more energised when I haven't worked all day.
4. I think its easier to get up at 6 and not rush then get up at 7:30 and run around like a crazy like I usually do.

Only one con:
I AM NOT A MORNING PERSON. Thus, I plan to try and fit this into my morning routine twice a week. I think this is doable, and not unreasonable.

Another addition to my morning routine I want to share comes courtesy of my sorority sister from college, Erica, of http://4thesakeofcake.com. She has been talking about "overnight oats" on a lot of her recent blogs in her quest to find a healthy, but filling breakfast.I had read a few posts of hers so I decided to give it a try and have loved it. Here is the recipe I use, but you can do a lot with this.

Overnight oats:

• 1/3 c. old fashioned oats
• 1/3 c. plain Chobani
• 1/8 c. milk
• 1 tbsp. honey
• 1 handful blueberries
• 4 thinly sliced strawberries
• a sprinkle of chocolate chips

Directions: combine first four ingredients & stir. Place in refrigerator over night. In the morning, stir again and add more milk if necessary. Top with next 3 ingredients and enjoy.

This is cold oatmeal and awesome for a breakfast on the go. The oats absorb the milk and yogurt overnight and create a filling cereal with a great consistency. Give it a try. The best part is, this recipe can be modified to include all different flavors and tastes!