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 :)

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!

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!

Drop Dead Sexy...in Maryland!

nothing is more exciting then seeing my favorite cover band, Drop Dead Sexy...well maybe...bringing new people to see them, watching them experience the awesomeness for the first time.

new, and exciting relationships starting out...actually feeling happy for the first time in a realllllllllllly long time.

good things are on the horizon...I can tell :)

on the slopes again...

practice makes perfect...so here we go again!

spent the day at Whitetail with some friends...and I did pretty good!  my legs, well they are still recovering...but overall, my best ski trip yet!!

it certainly was Super!

okay, before I start this, remember...I am a Giants fan, through and through.  always have been.  always will be. 


but it was pretty cool to watch the Ravens win last night.  we could hear fireworks going off around our house, and even though they really made us "wait for it..." they pulled off a very nice win.


we watched the game with Bonnie & Andy...made lots of yummy snacks...and I only covered my eyes a few times.

wasn't super impressed by many commercials- I can't even really think of one off the top of my head to tell you the truth.  but i will say this...the city was mighty purple today, and i am happy to have tomorrow off because i hear there is some sort of parade happening ;)

also, i know it makes me sound old...but very glad we were not out watching the game last night- this is a picture from the news of Federal Hill...

weekend wrap-up...part 1

this weekend is jam-packed with fun!

no, but really, I've already done a lot of fun stuff...so I figured I'd cut the weekend in half...Friday and Saturday, and then Super Bowl Sunday.


so far, I got in the car and drove up to New Jersey to see my Brother for a belated celebration of his birthday...we feasted on Pizza and birthday apple pie

 then I got all fancy, and made us breakfast on Saturday- after sleeping "in" till 8:15...I love my furry little friends, but not having anyone poke me in the face or hurl themselves into the blinds to wake me up for food, was pretty awesome today.


I have been trying out this whole Vine app, making some stop-motion videos...here is one of me making breakfast!

then we went out to run a few errands...bank, gas station, grocery store...and had Thai food for lunch...

I feel like I talk about food a lot...hmmm...


then Brandyce & Pete came over...and we had ourselves a grown-up dinner party :)  I made lasagna rolls, some just regular cheese and the others were with chicken and spinach...

more funny videos were made...and when they were leaving, we realized it was snowing...yet again!

so tomorrow I'm heading back to Maryland, to watch the super bowl...hopefully the Ravens can win one for Charm City...I'm afraid to see what happens if they lose...


fingers crossed the roads aren't too snowy tomorrow!  even though it is mighty comfy here...

happy birthday to my Panda :)

whew!  it was tough being the only one of my friends to be 31...well not only, but out of my oldest friends...

so happy 31st Pan!  ruv you!!

Movie Review- Les Miserables

saying I was excited to see this movie is a bit of an understatement.


and it worked out perfectly that my bestie and her husband were going to see it last Saturday night, and I was without plans!


so we had a yummy dinner at Gordon Biersch, where we had the most heavenly garlic fries...and they were free because Bonnie had a coupon...gotta love her ;)


then it was off to the movie...which I LOVED.  I had seen the play when I was 18, the first play I had ever seen in NYC :)  and even though that was an amazing experience, I thought this was a play that translated so well to a movie because it actually made more sense to me...it had been a long time since I saw it, so it was almost like seeing it for the first time again...but the music came right back to me


I might have listened to the Les Mis Pandora station the whole way home the next day...just maybe ;)



and the biggest highlight of the weekend had to be quality time with Dunkin...who is not quite as tiny as he used to be...and overly protective of my old chair, which used to be my chair...

Hello 2013!

A nice quiet new year was rung in last night with 6 humans and two dogs...with enough food to feed 50...enough drinks to fill a swimming pool...and party hats, glasses and streamers.


it was lots of fun...just look at these pictures:

and now I have to get ready to get back to work tomorrow...plan some lessons...if I remember how!

we should not be allowed in the kitchen.

I love holiday desserts...cookies, lots of cookies...cakes and pies...I love to eat them.

make them.  not so much.  I usually end up making a mess- turning the mixer on high with a bunch of flour in it, forgetting to add the baking soda, spilling my wine...three times...


oh wait.  that all happened yesterday.


in our first annual cookie baking day, Nicole, Maureen and I destroyed Nicole's kitchen...spilled a few too many things, used a wine bottle as a rolling pin, and ate half the things we made...


some things were made correctly...sometimes we turned the oven off without knowing it...


but a good time was had by all.  and that's really the important thing, right?

all the while, we had three dogs circling our feet, hoping we'd keep up our drop happy routine.


that being said...very excited to see what my Mom has baked up for Christmas...I know it will be better than what we came up with ;)

I'll take a barrel of wine, thanks.

it's Tuesday, otherwise known as Wine detox day 1.


not forever of course, but it has been quite a few days of having a little too much fun.  and usually I spend most of my days working, doing school work, and doing work for JerseyGirlDesign.


so Thursday I took a break, and went to have dinner with my friend Kristen...we watched Virginia Tech...lose unfortunately...and had some yummy bottles (2) of wine.  which led us to the decision that we should go to a winery on Sunday...more on that in a minute...




then on Friday my co-worker Nicole stopped in on her way to DC, and we had some wine (that's one more bottle) up on the deck...since the weather was nice enough, had to get some outside time...

that same night we went to Maryland Live  at Arundel Mills, to see GoGo Gadget...which was lots of fun..and included several more glasses of wine...

Saturday I got a break...from the wine that is...but 7 hours of class was less fun because of the night before...



and Sunday was winery day...Boordy Vineyards had a wine and soup tasting day- it was beaaaaaautiful out...we sat by the fire pit, had cheese, bread and chocolate with our wine (2 more) and soup...and made some new friends, and formed an unofficial wine club...

sorry for the terrible sun placement in this photo :p  we'll just have to go back and take another one...



finally, I got to see my bestie Bonnie last night- Monday- and we had dinner in the middle of our two houses...it was still nice, so we sat outside...had the patio all to ourselves, and a few more glasses of wine...it was happy hour after all...

whew.  didn't know I had it in me still...of course I wouldn't have been quite so tired back in my earlier days...

photo Saturday - Go Go Gadget

cover bands rock.  especially this one.


so I definitely didn't mind getting not nearly enough sleep before class today to go to the new Ram's Head live last night to see Go Go Gadget...they are now on my list of bands to stalk and go see whenever they play close enough to home :)

North Carolina X3

so this is apparently the year where I go to North Carolina.  a LOT.


for the third time in 4 months I drove down to North Carolina- this time to Charlotte- for my college room mate Kate's wedding...


I guess as you get older driving in the car for multiple hours gets less and less fun...well this drive felt like an eternity...but I was really excited to see everyone, so that counteracted it a bit

 

Friday night we got to see everyone after the rehearsal dinner at a fun restaurant in downtown Charlotte...which was actually in a movie theater!  and as I usually do...I traded shoes with the bride...gave her my flats and took her heels...seriously, am I a great friend, or what?  ;)

Saturday morning I ventured out around my hotel- which was really nice by the way- and found a Target to get some snacks, and picked up lunch at Zaxby's, which is one of B's favorite "in the south only" restaurants...and got ready for the wedding

the reception was at the Mint Museum, also downtown...with an amazing view of the city!

and check out the adorable cake bites!  I had a few of the flavors...okay, I had all of them...maybe more then once...but they were so cute and tiny!  I love this idea so much more then a big cake!  less waste!

thank goodness for my GPS on my phone...I used it more this weekend then anything else!


the only thing I did not enjoy, was my 3am alarm I set to get up on the road and home before the Raven's game on Sunday...and then I got to have lunch with my brother :D


another weekend, flew by...hope it was a good one kiddoes!