Happy Birthday Roomie!

celebrated Nicole's birthday Baltimore style...eating crabs and drinking beers :)

can you just sense how much more relaxed we are since school is out?

2 years...DONE!

I never thought I would have survived one week, let alone two whole years as a Baltimore City School teacher...but I did.  Bring it on summer!  time to relax and recharge...because now I really do understand why they have summer vacation...it is a necessity!

last day of school margaritas brought to you by Little Havana :)

when your new boyfriend meets your best friends

I love my best friends.  they know me, they have seen me go through the best and up until recently, the worst times.  so now that things are going great for me, I was so excited to get to spend a whole weekend with Bonnie, Andy and Jim :)

so we planned to go see Drop Dead Sexy...again...because you can never have enough! 

but in typical fashion for the outdoor concerts we have tried to go to in the past.  it rained.  a LOT.  so concert was a no-go...but we still had a fantastic time...dinner and drinks are weather-proof!

 

we went to Carpool in Herndon, right around the corner from their house, after some leftover Red, White and Blue shots from Memorial Day!

makes my heart happy that all my best people get along so great, and that we have so much fun together.  this is how it is supposed to be :)

when animals use FaceTime

why I love my iPhone...

because I can see people I miss...even though we are in different states, we can still feel like we are together sometimes...it makes you miss them a little less...

and of course, if the animals want to chat they can ;)

my favorite text ever

I have to admit, when texting first became a "thing" (side note- my spell check doesn't even recognize 'texting' as a word!) I was really against it.  it just seemed like another way that people didn't really have to talk to each other...more detachment from actual social interactions, and more hiding behind keyboards and screens...and being a teacher made it even more clear that this was bad...kids can hardly carry on conversations with each other, let alone look you in the eye when they talk to you!

but enough ranting...that was a few years ago, and I've since found texting to actually be a useful thing...when you are looking for someone and it's loud...for sending addresses which can automatically be opened up in Google maps...

so I'm on the bandwagon now...especially when I get texts like this from my awesome friends!

oh, and check out these strawberries growing outside J's house!

BBQing fools

I love Memorial Day...it is the official start of the summer season to me...the BBQ grills are out in full force, flip flops everywhere and it's time to start living outside again!

and this year, J and I planned our first get-together together...so add that to the list of reasons it was a great day!

we had about 8 friends over...and somehow again, I got wrapped up in the fun of the day, and forgot to take more photos!  but we did grill...LOTS of food...and we ventured down to the boardwalk with the group!

BBQ success!

the best pancake in the world.

not kidding.  the BEST pancake I've ever had- aside from my Dad's Sunday morning pancakes of course :)

we had brunch at Golden West Cafe in my new neighborhood of Hamden...I've eaten there a bunch of times, and somehow this menu item never jumped out at me...but oh. my. food.  zucchini scallion pancakes with honey butter sauce...

it was almost an afterthought, we had ordered our dishes and just threw the pancake in for good measure...

so glad we did.

of course, I didn't even think to take a photo before we ate it all...there was no time!

playing tourist

I've lived in Baltimore for...almost 9 years now...and there are still some places I've never gone...

so now that I have a fresh set of (super cute) eyes to take around with me...it's been really fun playing tourist in the city I've lived in for so long.

so this weekend, along with *officially* getting the keys to my apartment, having celebratory champagne and chinese food on the first night there, we also went to the Baltimore Aquarium and Zoo!

here are a few of my favorite pictures from the weekend!

Friday we had lunch at Little Havana

and then headed to the Aquarium, hoping to see the Dolphin show!

we found the dolphins! 

and of course it wouldn't be complete without a silly faced photo session...

and then on Saturday we went to the Zoo!

and celebrated all the new and happy things in life with the bottle of champagne Bonnie & Andy got me for finishing my Art degree...I had saved it for the perfect special occasion. 

more new apartment photos!

move-in is officially in t-minus 1 day! 

but here are a few more photos before I clutter it up with all my stuff!

a closet that might even be too big for my clothes!  maybe not the shoes though...

and washer and dryer...right outside the closet!

view from the bedroom/loft into the rest of the apartment

view from the rest of the apartment towards the loft

 

kitchen :)

 

and this little hiding place to store my Jen :D

beer at the beach

is the best kind. 

happy Friday from North Beach! 

everyone loves a good cat video...

Cat Shark Chases Duck on a Roomba - watch more funny videos

oh.  there are no words for this...

all aboard the onion train!

no matter how many times I go to a hibachi restaurant...I always get a kick out of the onion choo-choo the chef makes...after the big whosh of fire that I swear singes off my eye brows...every time! 

I could eat there at least once a week...I'd go broke of course, but it would be deliciously worth it!

so glad that J is a good eater...and loves food as much as I do!  so we are continuing on our food tour of Baltimore...with dinner at Kobe :D

authentic Japanese beer...from Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

a new apartment...and ice cream

it's past my "official" move-in date...but lucky for me, I've been granted access to my apartment...to wait for deliveries like my new couch (a pull-out sofa bed...hooray, guests!) and start slowly moving some things in...

it's weird to think I'll actually live here in just a few weeks time!

and then a visit from J complete with ice cream...not a bad day :D

 

when one of your oldest friends is getting married

you get dressed up in toilet paper and don't care :)

Amanda and I have been friends since Kindergarten...we used to roller skate in her basement, and we stayed friends through middle and high school...in college we would always drive between Virginia and South Carolina to visit and during every break we'd meet back up in New Jersey to have Sex & the City marathons, dinners drinks...days in the city...and after all of that, we ended up living about an hour apart. 

so of course I was thrilled to learn her and Bob were getting married after 10 years together...and was obviously honored to don a fabulous toilet paper wedding dress at her shower today.

 great friends are hard to find...so keep the ones that are important!!  love you Pan!!  Can't wait for the wedding in June!