It's a Charmed Life

Friday Round up: Celebrity Edition

2012-02-10T09:03:00.000-05:00

*First off thank you everyone for all the birthday love!! So far 30 has been fabulous!

I am so behind on my tv and celebrity gossip this week so here are some recent celeb items that hit my radar when I was stalking my usual gossip sites last night....

1. Did you hear about this? Apparently Christian Louboutin sent Blake Lively his entire spring collection. Right to her apartment for her to enjoy. Seriously? How does one get so lucky? Christian if you need anyone else to try out your spring collection my feet are available, I'm a size 10 by the way.

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2. NY Fashion week started this week and I must say my fashion faves, the Olsen twins are looking great in the front row at QVC. I can't wait to see their collection The Row next week.
**Fun fact: QVC is headquartered in my husband's hometown and my sister and brother-in-law both work there, so I get lots of inside celeb stories and gossip

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3. Kristin Cavallari hit the red carpet for the premiere of This Means War and debuted her tiny baby bump. I must say she looks good and happy. I know a lot of people don't like her but she's never really bothered me, or maybe it's the soft spot in my heart for Laguna Beach and The Hills that makes me like her.

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5. Beyonce debuted her 1 month post baby body and I must say Damn! she looks good! I'm hoping she has at least one pair of spanx on. Did you see her blue nails in honor of Blue Ivy? I also heard this week that they trademarked her name-wtf! Sometimes I think celebs go a little too far...

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6. How cute is Reese? I just totally adore her and her style and she just looks so good in this dress at the premiere of her new movie This Means War. I'm loving her bangs too!

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7. This picture doesn't need an explanation. Thank you H&M.

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Happy Friday!

30

2012-02-08T08:30:00.001-05:00

Today is my 30th birthday. Yup I'm a 30 year old. For the longest time I dreaded this birthday. I had this grand idea that some how 30 made me really old and that suddenly after my 30 birthday I would just become lame and start wearing mom jeans and holiday themed sweaters.

Well people I was wrong. As Jay-Z says, "30's the new 20"

As far as I can tell I don't feel lame and I definitely don't own anything close to mom jeans or a Christmas sweater. I am honestly excited and happy to be 30. I have a feeling this is going to be one of the best years yet. I'm happy I'm not in my early 20s again. While they were very fun years, they were also years filled with insecurity, unknown future plans, drama, etc. I'm happy to be past that stage of life. At this point I'm a lot more content and settled in life and I feel more sure of myself than I ever have.

Plus as my Dad always says, "Age is just a number"

Despite what I used to think there are no "rules" as to what you should have accomplished by the time you turn 30, you don't have to be married, or have kids or have that dream job to be a 30 year old. To me it's just been about realizing that life is an amazing thing and you only get one of them so you need to enjoy the years in your life and not worry about a silly number.

Now in honor of my 30th here's a picture of me the summer I was 10 with one of my favorite Barbies. I'm pretty sure I named her Karen.

*I'm not trying to offend any mom readers I think you all know what I mean when I say mom jeans :)

Pink

2012-02-07T09:58:00.000-05:00

In honor of my birthday month and Valentine's Day, I decided I needed a little Pink pick me up today since this is usually such a dreary month around these parts of the East Coast.

Enjoy...

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Dream

2012-02-06T08:00:00.000-05:00

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Scenes from my week

2012-02-03T09:49:00.000-05:00

TGIF! Here are some BB photos of what I've been up to this week...

- I officially suck at taking self potraits... see evidence below. I was attempting to text my sister a pic of my outfit before our girls night last Saturday.

- Remember Maybelline's Illegal Lengths mascera?? It was the BEST! Then it disappeared one day. Well it looks like the just made Illegal Length (minus the S) and I bought some. I'm trying it today for the first time. I'll let you know how it fairs and if it's as amazing. I have a feeling it won't be.

Old Illegal Lengths:

New Illegal Length:

-I'm currently having a love affair with Dunkin Donuts Iced Coffee. I'm blaming the unseasonably warm weather here for my iced coffee cravings. (oh the DD by my office puts in waaaaay too much milk/ creamer, so basically that's just creamer with a shot of coffee, anyone else have this problem with their DD?)

- I picked up a copy of House and Home from Target this week. It's a Canadian home decor/interior design magazine and so far I'm loving it.

I'm so ready for the weekend! We have a lot of house projects to tackle because we'll have people in town next weekend. Isn't it funny how the threat of visitors seeing your house a mess makes you step up and get stuff done? Oh well- it should be fun. I'll post pics of the progress next week.

Happy Weekend!

Is J.Crew knocking off Celine?

2012-02-02T08:30:00.001-05:00

As you know I'm a die hard J.Crew fan so when I was browsing the new arrivals I came across the Tillary tote and thought wow that is cute but it totally reminds me of another bag. I kind of let it go but it kept bothering me so as I was browsing the other bags J.Crew offers it dawned on me that they all look similar to some Celine bags!

Take a look below...

Is it just me or do these bags look similar? Is J.Crew following the popularity of Celine and creating more affordable versions for the every day girl?
The J.Crew bags all come in a little over $300 while Celine bags are well over $1000. What do you think? Do you like the J.Crew or Celine bags better?

I will admit I love the Celine bags but they're not in my budget right now and the J.Crew Tillary bag is pretty cute!

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Birthday Wishlist

2012-02-01T08:35:00.000-05:00

I'm not usually a big birthday person but since this is a milestone birthday I've decided to devote the entire month of February to my birthday. (the actual day isn't for another week. Feb 8th- mark your calendars)

So here are a few things I'm wishing for... (hint,hint mom and husband)

1. Atoll Mirror from Ballard Designs

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2. J.Crew Silk Boy shirt in heart throb

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3. Michele Watch

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4. Mulberry Bayswater in Oak

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5. Jonathon Adler Chippendale Chairs

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Sweet Treats: Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

2012-01-31T08:30:00.001-05:00

This is one of my favorite recipes! I don't know exactly where I found the recipe but for the first time in months it wasn't from Pinterest since I've had this one for a few years now! This cookies are amazing and incredibly addicting- I'm warning you now that you'll eat at least 5 in one sitting.

Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp Kosher salt
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 3/4 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 12-ounce package small peanut butter cups, coarsely chopped

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 375°F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt
2. Using an electric mix, beat the butter and sugars until creamy. Add the egg and vanilla and beat to combine. Gradually add the flour mixture, mixing until just incorporated. Fold in peanut butter cups
3. Drop tablespoon sized mounds of dough 2 inches apart onto the prepared baking sheets. Bake until light brown around the edges, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool for 2 minutes and then transfer to baking rack to finish cooling
**My cookies only take about 10 minutes to cook since I have a newer oven so you may want to check them at 10 minutes and cook them every 2 minutes from there**

Trust me you will not regret making these but your skinny jeans might!

Best and Worst - SAG Awards

2012-01-30T08:30:00.003-05:00

My favorites:

WTF were they thinking...

I don't really like what's going on in the front

Ehhh she usually does better than this

top cute, skirt way too much- she looks like a Disney princess

she's still young but this floral print just isn't working

the hippie look? there are no words for this

Why on earth did she keep walking and posing with her whole leg out?? This dress could have been cute but this looks so slutty to me!

Did you have any favorites last night? Would you have added anyone to the WTF list?

all images via Popsugar

TOMS Love

2012-01-27T09:00:00.003-05:00

Do yourself a favor and go purchase these. Now. Cute and Comfortable.

TOMS Gilded Herringbone

Do you love TOMS or are you avoiding this fashion trend?

Tagged!

2012-01-25T09:58:00.000-05:00

Soo it's been a long time since I've done one these but I thought this would be fun after such a long blog break especially for new readers or people who don't remember what I used to post about!

Cheryl Denise from A Peek of Chic tagged me in this post and so it goes...

Rules:

-You must post the rules

-Post 11 Fun Facts about yourself

-Answer the 11 questions that the tagger posted for you in their post & then create 11 questions to ask the people you've tagged

-Tag 11 people and link them in your post

-Let them know you have tagged them

11 Random Facts

1. I have an irrational fear of whales and the Maryland bay bridges

2. I gave up diet coke in July of 2011 and I miss it every day, I still splurge here and there but it's no longer my go-to morning drink :(

3. I eat some type of mexican dish at least 3 times a week (tacos, nachos, quesadillas, etc)- I would eat it everyday but husband apparently needs variety in his diet

4. I have an unheatlhy obsession with shows on ABC Family- SLOTAT, PLL, TLG, to name a few (10 points if you can name the shows from my acronyms :)

5. Charleston, SC is my dream city. I want to live there one day or at least have a house there. I've told K I might force our kids to go to college there so I can visit all the time

6. I hit the snooze button 3 times before I get up. I purposely set it 30 mins ahead of when I actually need to get up so I can get my snooze satisfaction

7. I'm very anal about the type of pen I use (I've probably noted this before somewhere on this blog)- I only use Pentel RSVP fine point in black ink or Pilot Easy Touch fine point in black ink

8. I've decided I have split personalities- one half of me of me wants to dress glamourously and trendy and live in NYC and the other half wants to live in a bikni, shorts and flip flops on a beach somewhere...

9. Sirius XM radio staion 90s on 9 is the BEST.STATION.EVER. Alanis, TLC, Boys to Men, Backstreet, old Brit Brit, The Cranberries, Nirvana, Lisa Loeb etc, etc I could go on forever let me just say it takes me back to middle school and high school every time I turn it on

10. Due to my Oak tree allergy I can't drink wine that's been aged in oak too long.

11. I cannot live without Seche Vite fast drying top coat- Do youreself a favor and go buy some now. Trust me. You'll never pay for a manicure again.

11 Questions

1. Where do you live?

Right outside of Annapolis, otherwise known as the sailing capital of the world (at least to those people not from Newport, RI)

2. What is your profession?

Corporate event planner- sounds more glamourous than it is

3. Where do you draw your inspiration from?

The internet probably- Blogs and Pinterest have endless amounts of inspiration everyday but I still love a good magazine or time outside walking around and people watching.

4. What is your favorite mainstream store to shop?

J.crew hands down, prices are ridiculous but it's like a bad addiction that I can't break. Thankfully they have good sales

5. What is your favorite boutique to shop?

This is hard considering every time I start to love a boutique it goes out of business.. I guess South Moon Under, are they still considered a boutique?

6. How would you describe your style?

Preppy and classic but I try to throw in modern/tready pieces if the outfit allows

7. What trend are you most looking forward to for spring?

Pastels- I'm more of a neutral/black/navy type so it will be good to add some soft colors into my wardrobe

8. If money was no object, what is your favorite brand (clothing, handbags, shoes, etc.)?

Well right now I'm coveting the Celine luggage tote (that I'm pretty sure everyone else is too) but I might have to say in general Prada or LV handbags- I'm a crazy handbag lover

9. If you were in celebrity, who would be your best friend?

Reese witherspoon- she has the best handbags and she always looks effortlessly chic whether she's dressed up or down plus she seems like a lot of fun and really down to eath

10. What's your favorite thing to do in your spare time?

Shopping or being lazy around the house with my husband since we don't get to do that very often

11. If you're married, what one piece of wedding advice would you share with me?

For the wedding day: Remember don't sweat the small stuff- things could go wrong but in reality your guests probably won't have any idea and in the long run it won't matter and you'll never remember it

For marriage: Communication is KEY I don't care if you've been together 10 months or 10 years the minute communication breaks down you start to have a problem

People I Tag:

Shannon from Page Twenty-two

LuvRedandWhite

Abby from Babbling Abby

Eileen from A Creative Day

Ashley from Places to Go Things to Buy

Taylor from It's the Little Things

11 Questions for the People I Tagged

1. What is your all time favorite movie? (you can only name one!)

2. If you could have any super power what would it be and why?

3. Team Edward or Team Jacob?

4. If you could take any trip in the world where would you go?

5. What's one piece of make up you can't live without ?

6. What's one accessory (jewelry, scarf, handbag, etc) that you don't leave the house without?

7. What is your dream job?

8. Cool Ranch or Nacho Cheese Doritos?

9. What's the best advice you've ever received and who gave it to you?

10. What's your guilty pleasure? (tv show, movie, food, etc)

11. What's your typical Starbucks order?

Take me Away...

2012-01-24T09:17:00.000-05:00

It's about this time of year when I declare that I hate winter, I hate being cold and that I'm moving to warmer climate for good. I'm determined one day to live some where warmer but until then I'll take some pretty pictures to tide me over...

I can see myself in any these locations with a big margarita in my hand... ahhh

Sunshine

2012-01-23T09:00:00.003-05:00

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Unfinished

2012-01-18T22:12:00.000-05:00

I feel like our house is always in a state of transition and nothing is ever finished. It doesn't help that I'm constantly changing my mind and moving things around...BUT as part of my New Years resolution this year I want to get our house projects finished. In honor of full disclosure here is a glimpse of some unfinished projects that we need to tackle...

1. Kitchen Cabinets

I've had these paint swatches up on the cabinets for about 2 months now and I have yet to call a contractor or attempt to paint them myself- so this is our first job

2. The empty space

We have a joint dining/living room in our townhouse and we have this empty space between our china hutch and TV that is just dying for some art work or a gallery wall or anything to give it some pizazz

3. The Fan

Our powder room fan was on it's last leg so K decided to play handy husband and install a new one. Well we ran into a complication. It seems a squirrel had made a nest in the vent pipe and it was completely blocked with sticks and grass and dirt- so we desperately need an electrician to come fix this.

4. K's office

At one point this room was organized and clean and actually looked like an office you'd want to use but we did some furniture moving and now this room has become our "catch all" room. We are lacking storage in our place so I'm going to need to get creative with that back wall for all of our books and my craft supplies that you can't see pouring out of the closet.

So this is just a glimpse of some projects that we need to tackle. I'm hoping to get through these in the next 3 months and then we have a few outdoor projects that we need to tackle in the spring and summer.

Do you have any house projects you're working on or anything big house projects you want to tackle this year?

Friday?

2012-01-13T14:43:00.000-05:00

Is it really Friday already? How did a week go by so fast without me posting once? I haven't even had time to catch up with blogs either as my Google Reader is 1000+... oh well that's life!

So here's what I've been up to...

One of my favorite Mexican places now makes Skinny Margaritas... so good without all the sugar and calories

I decided to jump on the bandwagon aftering seeing it all over Pinterest and I made a Green Smoothie but mine came out brown because I added raspberries and flax seed. Color aside it tasted yummy and I felt good about all the fruits and veggies plus it kept me full until way after 1pm!

Tonight we're heading into DC to meet up with friends at Thunderburger, even though I don't eat red meat I will admit that the burgers look delish!! The place itself looks pretty cool just check out those booths.

So looking forward to having MLK day off and another long 3 day weekend! I'm actually kind of excited for football too.

Anyone have any fun plans?

HGTV Dream Home 2012

2012-01-06T10:35:00.000-05:00

Do you try to win the HGTV Dream Home every year like K and I do? I don't remember when the obsession started, maybe 3 or 4 years ago, but every year we enter daily to win. Keeping our fingers crossed the whole time! My favorite aspect of the whole thing is that they surprise the winner "ambush style" meaning the HGTV crew just shows up at your front door telling you that you won and they usually do it live so you can watch along on TV to see if they're headed your way!
This years Dream Home is located on the banks of the Provo River in Midway, Utah. Not exactly the destination I'm dying for (like the Sonoma house from a few years ago... I die) but I would take a free dream home either way.

Ok let's take a look around the house...

Welcome! This is lovely entrance to the house, it does look like a dream ranch home to me

The Great Room- with 2 story ceilings and stone walls

I don't love the color scheme and it feels very traditional

I could definitely wrap my head around this kitchen, it has such a modern feel for a rustic ranch house

I love the contrast of the dark wood and ikat print chairs with the white end chairs

The master bedroom is a little dark for my taste but that chandelier is gorgeous and it has a porch off of it so I could work with that

I'm loving this master bath, it feels like a luxury hotel bathroom!

ehh not loving the color scheme in here

a little too patriotic for my tastes but I do like the buffalo check plaid flooring

The cozy family room is nice and this does look like a great place to relax and watch movies

Outdoor living room- I could see myself with a glass of wine out here

Oh is that a hot tub and lounge chairs you say- I could get used to that, especially with that mountain view- breathtaking!

So there you have it! Do you enter to win the HGTV Dream Home like me? Do you like the way this house was designed and decorated? Is it your style or not?

Pinning my life away...

2012-01-05T09:26:00.001-05:00

I'm not going to ask you if you've heard of Pinterest because I'm pretty sure you have to be living under a rock to not know about it! Just like the rest of us I've become ADDICTED and find myself "pinning" some practical items and then some ridiculous stuff but hey a girl can dream right? I always say I'm just going to browse and I look up and an hour has passed... whoops! You have to admit there is some great inspiration to be found on it though :)

Here are some of my favorite pins as of late:

this kitchen just feels clean

will always love stripes

I'm obsessed with that bag and OP always looks effortlessly chic

I may have recently added this Longchamp handbag to my collection- they are just the best durable bags around!

I need an excuse to make these because I'm obessed

love the mirror, the rug, the light... etc

I know she can be a pain sometimes but I love this quote and it's my 2012 motivation!

Do you Pin? Are you addicted too? You can follow me here if you want

All images found here

New Year, New Goals

2012-01-03T09:36:00.000-05:00

Instead of resolutions I've decided to set goals for 2012. I'm hoping that setting clear goals will help me to achieve them since I usually forget what my resolutions are by February. I am also hoping that putting them out here will help me take responsiblity!

So here goes nothing...

1. Read 50 books- I usually read a lot but I don't do a good job keeping track and I want to read more so I'm hoping with my new Kindle and Goodreads I will be able to do this.

2. Run 500 miles- I'm hoping this goal will make it easier to run rather than saying I must run 3x a week. This way it will be ok to have bad weeks without beating myself up

3. Cut back on shopping- especially online - this is going to be hardest, I've been known to fall prey to emails saying "extra 25% off plus free shipping"... so I'm hoping to establish a method of saving for purchases instead of just buying things right when I see them

4. Save money for house projects and actually complete the project- we've been in our house for 3 yrs and there are still some projects we haven't tackled- so hopefully that money I save from not shopping can be put into the house! I will go into more detail later about what projects we need to tackle but it feels like a lot right now.

So there you have it! Did you make resolutions or set goals for 2012?

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Friday Things

2011-12-30T11:45:00.000-05:00

We had a wonderful holiday that was full of friends, family, too much food and wine! It was a total whirlwind and I can't believe it's over already! I of course didn't take any pictures at all. Friday is finally here, it's been a long (quiet) week at work and I'm ready for the 3 day weekend.

Do you all have any fun New Year's plans? We decided to lay low this year, it's been a crazy year so we're ready to welcome 2012 with a night at home. Does that make us old??

Don't worry we'll probably still have champagne and delicious food minus the crowds and expensive tabs!

If I was going out I would love to wear this dress below...

Parker Beaded V-neck dress

We're going car shopping this weekend. I'm just in the preliminary stages of looking for a new car for me. I'm not sure if I want a sedan (b/c I commute 45min each way) to save gas or if it's time to move up to an SUV because we'll probably have a family in a few years. So we'll see!

Here are my top choices:

2012 VW Passat

it totally looks like a Audi without the price tag

Jeep Compass

Toyota Prius V

I've heard the batteries are really expensive to replace on hybrids and since I'm going to have this car for a long time I'm not sure this will work- but I still haven't confirmed this

Toyota Highlander

Nissan Murano

As you can see I'm kind of all over the place with the cars I like! Any suggestions or advice would be much appreciated!

I hope you all have a happy new year!

Merry Christmas!!

2011-12-24T10:35:00.000-05:00

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas!!

This is too funny not to share:

Week in Pictures

2011-12-23T14:36:00.000-05:00

I'm so happy to finally be on vacation, if only for 4 days it's still 4 days away from work which is always appreciated. Here's what I've been up to this week:

Christmas creamer to brighten up the morning coffee...

new black booties I got on major sale on Piperlime...

My co-worker gifted me this adorable N mug from Anthro

A little wine and cheese to relax after a long week...

Stemless wine glasses as an Xmas gift from one of my vendors...perfect!

I'm just finishing up my wrapping and getting ready to enjoy the holidays!! I hope you all are too!

Zig Zag Dress

2011-12-21T09:55:00.000-05:00

So I purchased this Everly Zig Zag dress below after spotting it on the website Sosie, it was only $43.00 and I figured I could definitely find a place to wear it! Well the dress turned out to be more of a tunic on me since I'm tall but I loved the pattern too much to return it.

I ended up wearing it to K's 30th birthday party with a pair of leggings which worked but I have totally found a new, fun way to wear it. I decided on a whim a few weeks ago to tuck the dress into my Jcrew city mini one morning when I couldn't find anything to wear before work and see how it looked and it totally works as a shirt now too! It's cute and comfortable which I'm always looking for with work clothes. I think this idea can work with a few other dresses I have too which just extends my wardrobe further without spending any money.

Sorry for the crappy Blackberry photo and do you love my crappy $5.00 mirror from Target... it's probably time for an upgrade on both

Catching Up

2011-12-16T09:12:00.000-05:00

Here's what we've been up to in pictures...my sister got married, we enjoyed our summer, we had trips to Philly, NYC, K turned 30

2011 was a great year and I can't wait to see what 2012 holds for us and I'm actually excited about turning 30 next year!

Christmas Wish List

2011-12-15T13:32:00.001-05:00

I don't really need anything for Christmas since I pretty much buy myself things when I see them but just in case here are few things I am hoping for...

1. Longchamp Le Pliage travel bag preferably in black, navy or taupe :)

2. Kindle Touch with 3G
I've couldn't decide if I was ready to give up holding a book in my hand but I think this will be great for travel and weekend trips when I don't want to lug a book around and now I won't owe the library hundreds of dollars because I can't return books on time!

3. J Brand Lovestory Flare Jeans
I am so over skinny jeans at the moment and totally into the flare trend and could really use a pair of these

4. Timex Easy Reader Python Watch

What's on your Christmas List?

J.Crew City Mini

2011-12-15T11:57:00.000-05:00

Run don't walk to your nearest J.Crew and purchase this skirt! I had been eying the City Mini ever since it first hit the catalog this fall because it looked like the perfect winter skirt but I was a little hesitant with the price of $85.00 but I was also in serious need of a new winter skirt so I finally pulled the trigger last week and bought.

Let me just say... best. decision. ever. This is seriously the most comfortable skirt because it has an ELASTIC waistband. Seriously people I feel like all of my pants or skirts should have an elastic waistband because these things are awesome. Plus it's considered a "mini" but it not too short on me at all and I am 5'9 so I can get away with wearing it at work. (my office is biz causal). I purchased it in black and I'm going to get the gray and maybe the bronze rust or bright dahlia too.

What color do you like best?

TGIF

2011-12-15T11:54:00.000-05:00

I'm so happy Friday is finally here so I can relax and enjoy myself this weekend.

Have you all seen the trailer for New Year's Eve? I'm TOTALLY OBSESSED- it looks so cute!! For some reason these celebrity packed movies always suck me in, like Love Actually or Valentine's Day. Plus there is always plenty of eye candy ie. fashion, NYC, and hot guys

New Year's Eve by teasertrailer

I just purchased these Jamieson Ankle boots by DV by Dolce Vita in black and I love them. I wear them to work at least 2 times a week and they just bring something different to a skirt or dress. Plus with a 2.25in heel they are comfortable and don't make me too tall. I'm considering getting the taupe pair too.

Plus I got mine from Piperlime with a 20% off coupon. I love Piperlime and would love to buy everything on there if I could afford it.

I must admit I'm super excited for Breaking Dawn to come to theaters. I was a vampire and Twilight hater for a long time but my book club convinced me to read them and I became obsessed just like everyone other girl around the world! Plus Robert Pattinson is easy on the eyes

Happy Friday!

xoxo,
~Nat

I'm Dreaming of a White...

2011-12-15T10:44:00.001-05:00

Kitchen!

Cheesy I know, but we've been talking about re-doing our kitchen for some time and I think we're finally going to make some moves! Since we're just in a townhouse and this isn't our "forever" home we're not going to splurge on anything major but we still want it look nice and be functional for ourselves and future renters or homeowners.

Here is what the kitchen currently looks like- this picture has bad lighting (and is kind of old) but you get the idea of the drab cabinets and counter tops:

Since the space is small and gets very little sunlight (as you can tell) we want to paint the cabinets white to brighten things up. We haven't decided on the counter tops yet but I'm leaning toward black for a nice stark contrast. The kitchen is currently painted Sherwin-William/Duron Grassland.

SW Grassland

As of right now I'm planning to keep this color but I could always change my mind, so you never know. We're still in the very early stages so right now I'm just collecting all of my inspiration images and contacting contractors.

Here are some inspiration photos that I am loving right now:

I love the white and dark wood island

Loving the light counters

Love the black and white with the dark wood floors

Love the pendants... would love a butcher block if I had room

Love the pendant lights and white marble

This one might just be PERFECTION!!

xoxo,

Nat

Ready for Fall

2011-12-15T10:29:00.001-05:00

The temps in the DMV area today are so wonderful! There was actually a chill in the air when I stepped outside this morning. That cool feeling and the start of school in the area totally has me dreaming of fall. Now I have to admit I am a LOVER of summer and all things light and airy but I am definitely feeling the fall fashion trends this year!
Here are a few of my current fall loves:

I am love, love, loving these Tory Burch boots! I seriously need these and a black pair if only they would go on sale...

I have always had a love for leopard print but I'm think this belt with these pants below would be delightful

I love Jcrew minnie pants, they are so comfortable and professional enough for work- I think I need a red pair this season

I've been eying this Marc Jarcobs for about a year now and I this dirty martini color would be great for fall

I really think I need to add a pair of booties to my wardrobe this year

I.die. I seriously need this Jcrew coat in my wardrobe, I love everything about it. I am loving red this season!

xoxo,

Nat

Anyone out there?

2011-06-08T21:49:00.000-04:00

Hi there, Remember me? I've decided to try coming back to blogging again. I've really missed all my of my blog "friends" and keeping up with everyone lives, so if anyone is still out there here is what I have been up to since the beginning of 2011... in pics of course because everyone loves those

I turned 29...

Celebrated my sister's bridal shower...

Played the role of bridesmaid in my college roommate's wedding...

Celebrated my sister's last fling before the ring...

In addition to all of this we also (I don't have pics of any of these events!) welcomed our first niece into the family on K's side, celebrated 2 bridal showers and 2 bachelorette parties with 2 of my besties and former college roommates in addition to my sister's, welcomed my childhood friend's baby boy into the world, and celebrated Memorial day "college style" . That's all I can think of right now!

Hope you all have been well, I'm excited to catch up with everyone's busy busy lives again!

Looking Forward

2011-01-02T19:45:00.001-05:00

2010 was a good year and I don't have any major complaints but I'm looking very forward to 2011 and what it holds for us.
This past year was a year of what ifs, don't knows and general uncertainty for us revolving around K going back to graduate school to get his MBA and now that he has started I think we have finally worked out a routine and lifestyle that is comfortable for us. It's hard at times and our budget has changed but life is moving on and going well so far.

I don't really set resolutions because I just end up feeling bad about myself come February so this year we have a theme for our year. The theme is "diet." I decided that a few areas of our lives need a diet for me it's food and shopping, meaning eating better and following a more stable diet and shopping a lot LESS. Shopping is going to be a lot harder than eating right but I need to learn to save for my purchases instead of just buying whatever I want whenever I want it!

Looking forward to 2011 and all it holds! Happy New Year to all!

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T12:58:00.001-05:00

Wishing everyone a very merry Christmas!!!

xoxo,
Nat

Getting Craftier Week by Week

2010-12-14T09:00:00.001-05:00

I joined ASC in the second week of her closet craftiness or closet crafty challenge as I've been calling it. This week we made name boards! Go check hers out here she did a great job and includes a tutorial which I followed.

I was actually really excited for this one because my sister in law is expecting so this was the perfect opportunity to make her something special and personalized and it was so easy!

I went with a small oval shape and painted it with acrylic paint and then I cut out scrapbook paper and decoupaged it to the top of the oval, I painted the letters and then glued them right on. I opted to use a ribbon instead of attaching backing because I thought it was fun!

My only lessons for next time are shinier mod podge (not matte) and maybe not trying to attempt to cute a perfect oval with my kitchen scissors but other than that I think it turned out great!

Dear Santa,

2010-12-10T15:54:00.000-05:00

I feel kind of bad even making this list because Santa has already been so nice to me this year (I am incredibly blessed and thankful) and gifted us with this:

Pottery Barn Comfort Square sofa

I have been asking for this sofa for 2 years and it's finally going to be mine next Wednesday!!

But I needed to feel some inspiration on this dreary Friday so here are some other things I would love Santa to get me:

Tory Burch small Jaden Tote in Paris Grey

Ray Ban Jackie Ohh II

Michael Kors Runway Watch in silver

Pottery Barn York Headboard

I promise to be good all year Santa!!

xoxo,
Nat

Have a great weekend!! It's my sister's birthday tonight and we're going out to celebrate Redneck style (don't mean to offend anyone) with mechanical bull riding and bowling :)

Christmas Parties and Crafts

2010-12-06T20:18:00.000-05:00

I can't believe it's December already- 2010 has just flown by I can't even believe it. I went to my first holiday party of the season this past Saturday and got to wear my new H&M dress I scored for $30.00! I know it isn't the best quality but I LOVE H&M because I can buy cheap trendy stuff and not feel guilty!

My sister in laws

I also got our tree up and all of our decorations out...

I joined ASC in weekly craft project and this was our first one- Glitter Trees!! Check hers out they turned out great... mine on the other hand were ehhh. I had never used spray adhesive so lets just say my first tree didn't turn out at all and these were slightly better but still not the best.

The silver one turned out much better than the red one

I've also decided to stick to blogging- thank you all for your encouraging words :)

To stay or to go

2010-11-09T21:55:00.000-05:00

So I can't really decide if I want to blog anymore. I've been pretty sporadic over the past few months and I keep making proclamations about coming back and then I never do. I've been busy, we've been busy, work has been busy. Life is just busy and I just don't know that I have the energy to blog anymore. I start a ton of posts then I just save them and never publish them. Then sometimes I feel like I just want to start from scratch or start a new blog but does everyone really want to hear about my everyday life? I don't know, clearly I'm kind of just rambling.

Other than that life has been good, busy but good! I can't believe Thanksgiving will be here in 2 weeks!! I'm not even close to ready for the holidays this year.

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

2010-10-18T21:21:00.000-04:00

So I feel like I've been gone on and off for so long that I don't even know where to begin!

Let me begin by bringing you up to speed on what's been going on with Nat...

-I officially watched 1 family member and 4 friends make the transition into wedded bliss this year. I managed to take wayyy to much advantage of the open bars and free food every time. So thank you all for throwing me a $30k party every weekend that I didn't have spend one dime on.

-K and I spent a wonderful 3 days in Charleston, SC and I've been dying to go back every day since even with the 1000 degree heat and hair flattening humidity.

-K and I celebrated our 1st anniversary... we managed to make it through our first year of marriage alive and well and we have officially been together for 7 years total, which is a damn long time.

-I feel head first into the Twilight series and basically spent 2 weeks with my face in the books and ignored anyone that didn't want to talk about Twilight or Bella or Edward or Jacob with me. I then forced my husband to see Eclipse with me when it was re-released on Sept 10th. I've slowly recovered from my addiction, I think K was scared I might actually leave him for RPattz.

-I discovered a long lost love for ravioli and I want to eat it for dinner every night. This doesn't make my husband too happy.

-I also learned that Trader Joe's makes Pumpkin Spice ice cream which is even better than it sounds.

-K started grad school this year part time to get his MBA... which basically means I never ever see him. I mean I barely saw him before with his work schedule and traveling so now I really don't see him. It basically sucks and I'm spending a lot of time hanging out with myself. I've just learned I need new hobbies and more friends.

-I have been filling the void of the missing husband by shopping WAY TOO MUCH... shhh don't tell him. I'm going to have to do a whole post on all the fall clothes I've bought and maybe one on my ridiculous wish list I've complied too because I apparently think we're millionaires.

-90210 and Gossip Girl are back. They totally make Mondays bearable.

-Christmas is only about 9 weeks away, seriously?? I'm not even close to ready.

I haven't really been taking my camera with me lately but here are two pics from a wedding in September.

Ten on Tuesdays

2010-10-12T16:57:00.000-04:00

TEN ON TUESDAY via Ashley's Antics!

1. What does your work out schedule look like?
This is what it should look like, whether not it does is a different story

Monday: Lift and 30 minutes cardio

Tuesday: 1 hour cardio

Wednesday: Yoga

Thursday: 1 hour cardio

Friday:Lift and 30 minutes cardio

Saturday or Sunday: Usually an easy run on Saturdays

2. What is your favorite machine to use at the gym?
Treadmill or stationary bike

3. What is your favorite class to take at the gym?
Hahahahahaha I don't do group exercising

4. Where do you shop for work out gear and clothing?
To be honest I probably haven't bought new exercise gear in years- I have so many pairs of Nike running shorts I never run out

5. If you can't go to the gym, do you have a favorite outdoor activity?
RUN- it's the best free therapy besides a glass of wine (except wine isn't free haha blond moment :)

6. What about a favorite work out DVD? If so, please share!
Jillian Michael's 30 day Shred- love her and the DVD

7. Are you more active now or when you were in high school?
I think now because I (try) to work out year round when in high school I would go really hard for a few months for cross county or lax or swimming and then take time a long time off in between.

8. How has your dieting/working out philosophy changed since high school?
Hahahaha I used to eat 3-4 chocolate Entenmann's donuts pretty much everyday before cross country and I wore a size 0/2. I also never thought about what I was eating though. Now I'm pretty cognisant about what I put into my body and my whole philosophy on food has changed. You can thank Skinny Bitch and The China Study for that, if you don't want to scarred don't read either one. I was also an exercise science major in college so that helped!

9. What do you do while working out– (i.e., day dream, read, listen to music, gab with a friend)?
Listen to my Ipod full of awesome Rap and HipHop with a little Don't Stop Believin to keep me going

10. What working out resolution would you like to make for yourself this year?
I'm so independent when I exercise that I want to go to group classes esp on days when I have no motivation, like Bodyworks, Zumba, etc. I just have zero hand eye coordination so it could get embarrassing.

Remember Me?

2010-10-08T13:13:00.000-04:00

Hi there- remember me? The long lost blogger full of empty promises of returning to blogging and then making a a few appearances and then disappearing for another 6 weeks?

Yeah major FAIL on my part. As usual I have nothing to blame on it but real life and being busy, but I'm not even that busy so maybe just laziness?? or maybe I should just stop trying to make excuses.

You see I want to blog. I just don't really have much to say lately, and I usually don't really like to complain a lot on here which is all I've really wanted to do lately so I've decided to fall back on the old if you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all.

BUT...

I decided that I blog for me and I should stop worrying about what people who read my blog think and just write what I want to write.

So I will be back and it might not be all that interesting to you but it will be to me and in the end that is what is important, right?

Ten on Tuesday

2010-08-31T20:49:00.000-04:00

I've been having a major blog block so I decided to steal Ashley's Ten on Tuesday

1. Pretend it’s Monday morning–take us through a day in the life of you.
6:00am Alarm goes off, continue to hit snooze until 6:40am
6:40am Drag lazy self out of bed and shower, blow dry hair, make up dress
7:40am Pack lunches
7:50-8am Leave for work somewhere in this 10 min increment
8:30-5pm- Work
5:00-7pm- Typically I run errands on Mons, cook dinner some where in there
8:00-9:00pm- SLOTAT and Bachelor Pad, hubs comes home sometime between 8:30-9
9:00-10:30pm- Flip through bad TV and finally head to bed around 10:30pm

2. What’s your favorite reality tv show?
Wow this is hard one, probably The Hills and since that's off the air then Teen Mom or anything on MTV

3. What motto do you live by?
No Pain, No Gain

4. If you knew could you try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt?
To sing, but this will never happen b/c I'm awful like Cameron Diaz in My Best Friend's Wedding

5. What was your first job?
Lifeguard!

6. What is your current job?
Meeting and Event Planner

7. What would you call yourself if you could choose your own name (and you cannot pick the one you already have)?
When I was a kid I always wanted to be Kristin, now I would probably pick something like Caroline or Claire

8. What musical instruments can you play?
I can play Lean on Me on the piano

9. Is it easier to forgive or forget?
Forgive

10. What is one food you’d never want to taste again?
Liverwurst

So Busy

2010-08-26T21:49:00.000-04:00

With my new friends Bella and Edward... oh yeah and Jacob too. Oh and the Cullens and Charlie and Billy, you know the gang in Forks and LaPush.

I am so freaking consumed by these books I didn't even know it was possible. I'm obsessed. It's bad.
I'm about halfway through Eclipse and I promise I'll be back once I finish Breaking Dawn.

Again I know I'm 2 years too late so I apologize to all of you that are so over Twilight.

Friday Fun Facts

2010-08-20T09:17:00.000-04:00

OBX 2010

1. This is the first full Friday I've worked in 6 weeks. This 5 day week has been a bit rough.

2. I recently jumped on the Twilight bandwagon. I can't believe it took me so long. I am 150 pages into Twilight and I cannot put it down. I'm actually excited for my lunch break so I can read it, of course I may not return from lunch.

3. Speaking of #2 I never ever thought Robert Pattison was hot until I watched Twilight. Actually all the vampires in Twilight are hot.

4. We've lived in our townhouse for 2 years officially this weekend! I can't believe how fast the 2 years have flown by! I am currently in the process of redecorating/organizing room by room. Any one have any suggestions for nice affordable couches?

5. Next weekend we will celebrate our 1st wedding anniversary. Holy Cow- where did the year go?

6. I'm actually really excited for fall this year. Only because it's been 90-100 degrees all summer and I don't "glow", I sweat.

7. This is the first weekend I have nothing to do all summer and I couldn't be more excited about it. Maybe I'll even sleep in to 9:00am!

8. I know I've probably said this before but I am OBSESSED with Ann Taylor Loft- their sales are incredible and the clothes have gotten so much cuter over the past year. Seriously sign up for their emails and take advantage of it.

9. There are some changes going on in the H household and no they don't currently involve babies. Sorry!

10. Blogger has been starting to annoy me lately, I feel like the more they make updates to it the harder it is for me to use or I'm just computer illiterate.

TGIF- Have a great weekend!

In my mind I've gone to Carolina

2010-08-18T22:01:00.000-04:00

Warning: Major Picture Overload!

We had a wonderful 10 day vacation!! We've never taken a vacation that long and while 7 of the days were a family vacation it was still nice to be gone from work and reality that long.

We spent the first 3 days in Charleston, SC. Charleston is one of my most favorite cities and I couldn't wait to show K around. We decided to visit Charleston to celebrate our first anniversary and it was such a good decision. Even though it was extremely hot and humid we still managed to have a great time, despite being covered in a think layer of sweat.

We stayed at the Andrew Pinckney Inn which was very quaint but in a great location and pretty close to everything, next time we're staying at the Charleston Place Hotel- we walked through it the first day and I instantly fell in love.

We did a ton of sight seeing and even more eating. I am totally obsessed with all of the architecture in Charleston and it took all of my willpower to not knock on every door to see how the inside was decorated.

We spent the first day shopping which is always fun, mostly for K but I enjoy all shopping and credit card swiping no matter who it's for :). We then took a harbor tour on the Carolina Belle which was fun and we learned so much history about the city and we got to see Fort Sumter which K loved.
The next two days we just walked all over the city, we took so many tours I don't think I can name them all. Thankfully we rewarded ourselves with a chocolate peanut butter cupcake from Cupcake. Seriously one of the best cupcakes I've ever eaten!

The first night we had dinner at Slightly North of Broad or SNOB, I had the most incredible sour cream apple pie for dessert. To.Die.For. Southern food is so darn delicious.
The second night we ate at Amen Street, which was just as delicious. K actually works with the executive chef's father so we got to meet him and he treated us to some drinks! We had shrimp corndogs for an appetizer, and they were soo freaking good and then I had scallops for dinner which were just as delicious.
I swear food is better in the south.

No on to the pictures, I took about 100 more but decided to spare you from the endless scenery pics.

Waiting for our Harbor Tour on the Carolina Belle

Charleston Harbor and Ports

Fort Sumter

Arthur Ravenel Bridge

Roof top deck at our hotel

The beginning of the Battery

The Battery

Pineapple Fountain- you could swin in all of these fountains- so fun!

Waterfront Park

Dinner at S.N.O.B

Cupcake- one of the best cupcakes I've ever had!

Great wine bar with pizza!

Me & K

To any and all Twilight Fans

2010-08-15T22:13:00.000-04:00

I would like to apologize for making fun of you. I am sorry, so sorry.
I just finished watching Twilight and I am officially obsessed. Who knew vampires could be so sexy?!?!

I am going out tomorrow to buy all the books and reading them ASAP. So any non-Twilighters please feel free to make fun of me.

Back to Reality

2010-08-09T20:38:00.000-04:00

I just returned from a 10 day vacation in the Carolinas and my brain mush!! I will be back this week with a recap and a lot of pics!!

Now I have to go tackle my google reader which has like 1000+ unread posts!

I have a confession

2010-07-28T18:20:00.000-04:00

I am afraid of flying.

There I admitted it. I am about to hop on a plane to go to one of my favorite places in the next few hours and I am trying not to freak. Did I mention it's a baby one with like 19 rows or something small like that??

I'm not actually scared of being in the plane it's more the taking off part and any time I hear a weird noise. I usually fly 1-2 times a year and it's only been over the past 2 years that I've developed this irrational fear because yes I know I'm safer flying than I am driving to the airport. Trust me wine and xanax have become my best friends while flying but I still get scared and this time we're going xanax free.

So bloggy friends if you could good send good vibes and prayers my way that would be great, and pray I make it there without without overdosing on wine to calm my nerves.

xoxo,
Nat

Random Tuesday

2010-07-27T18:50:00.000-04:00

-We have been sooo busy this summer. I haven't had a free weekend since before Memorial day but I don't want to complain because I have been having a lot of fun celebrating with all of our friends. Let's just say I am so looking forward to my upcoming vacation!!!

-It has been in the 100s here the past few weeks. Today it was 89 and it felt a little cool. It was amazing to not get in my car after work and immediately start sweating.

-I can't believe it's only one month until my 1st anniversary. I swear this year went by way faster than last. Anyone else feel like that?

-They ending of The Hills totally left me stunned and a little sad. I was like what it really is FAKE?? Then I saw an article with Lo saying she never ever filmed on a Hollywood set and that was probably an MTV stunt. Phew. I can now go back to believing all of that awkwardness was real.

-Teen Mom 2 started last week and I'm in love. Still love Catelynn and Tyler.

-I bought a pair of aviator sunglasses

-I have also recently fallen in love with Ann Taylor Loft- the sales are incredible!!

-Does anyone else watch Pretty Little Liars?

-I'm looking to get a new car in the next year, hopefully a mid-size SUV, does anyone have any suggestions or ones they love?

-I have a list of home projects a million miles long that hopefully we get tackled sometime in the next few months.

Glory Days

2010-07-23T10:39:00.000-04:00

Today I am heading here:

University of Maryland- College Park

My wonderful home for 4 glorious years of college! We are heading there to celebrate two of our friends from college who will be getting married on campus and having their reception on campus. I couldn't be more excited to return to my alma mater for the weekend. Not only that but about 25 of our college friends will all be back in the same place at the same time so I'm going to feel like a giddy 20 yr old girl in a jean skirt for 48 hours!!

If you're familiar with it you know that College Park is a dirty, nasty city but I LOVE it and wouldn't have wanted to spend my glory days anywhere else!

Because I'm feeling nostalgic I leave you with some pictures:

Look at what a baby K was!!

The Rest is Still Unwritten...

2010-07-13T21:28:00.000-04:00

This is it. It's really over. After 6 seasons of drama, tears, cat fights, break-ups, make-ups, sketchy boyfriends, crazy boyfriends, plastic surgery, bar fights, weddings, crazy b*tches, ex-girlfriends, beach parties, move-ins, move-outs, friendships beginning and ending it is time to say good-bye.

I would be lying if I said I'm not sad. I am. Very sad. I have been religiously watching these girls and boys for the past 4 years and some since LB and I'm not sure how I'll survive without a little LC, Lo, Audrina, Kristin, Heidi, Stephanie, Spencer, Frankie (Brody's friend), Stacey (the bartender), or Justin Bobby (Audrina's non boyfriend man lover) in my life. I mean where else will I be able to get long awkward pauses, forced uncomfortable conversations, characters that are unable to make any eye contact, and constant back stabbing?

I'm really not sure how I'm going to survive without seeing my boyfriend Brody weekly.

Swoon....

So will you all be tuning in tonight to watch this era come to an end?

**Thankfully Teen Mom 2 and Jersey Shore will be starting soon so I will have something to get me through my pain**

Charleston

2010-07-08T10:35:00.000-04:00

K & I are taking an early anniversary trip later this month to Charleston, SC. Charleston is one of my favorite cities and I cannot wait to go back!! K has never been so I am so excited to show him around, I know he's going to love it. We suckers for historic cities with palm trees.

I haven't been since I was in college and I have an idea of a few restaurants (besides Sonic, haha) and beaches I want to see again but I'm looking for advice on other must see/must do items while we're there and would LOVE suggestions.

Any good suggestions for:

-Restaurants
-City tours
-Plantation tours
-Beaches
-Shopping
-and anything else I'm missing

Thanks loves!

Enjoying the Simple Pleasures of Summer

2010-07-06T22:57:00.000-04:00

We've been so busy this summer and it's only going to get busier. So I've been trying to enjoy the simple pleasures that I love about summer.

Eating a ton of these...

And these.

Laying out here for hours upon hours

and admiring these, I cannot get enough of hydrangeas in the summer.

What are you simple pleasures of summer?

Dog or No Dog???

2010-06-30T09:37:00.000-04:00

So we're currently having a dilemma here in the H family and I need some honest, real advice from my fellow bloggers.

Should we get a dog??

My husband is a dog LOVER. He comes from a family of dog LOVERS. His parents have 3 dogs, One brother has 3 dogs, and one brother has 2 dogs.    My family had a poodle when I was like 8 who died one year later and then my parents didn't get another dog until I left for college ~~to replace me~~ for my sister and then got another dog 4 years ago.

I really like dogs. I'm not going to say love because if I had to pick between a dog and a new car I would definitely say car.    Ohh and there is nothing that annoys me more than a dog barking for no reason.

So here's a little background history...

K wants a dog because he loves them, thinks it would be fun, and would feel better being away knowing I have a dog there.
I want a dog because K works really late and travels a lot so it would be really nice to have a dog around so I don't freak out every time I hear a little tiny noise. This is also the problem.
Due to the fact that K works so much and starts business school part time this year (sucking away even more of his time) I will be the primary caretaker of the dog. I'm afraid that I will eventually begin to resent the dog or K.

Due to my allergies and K's love of bigger dogs we will be getting either a goldendoodle or labradoodle.

So what I want to know is:

Are you happy you got a dog?    Do you think dogs are good companions or just a lot of work?

Do you spend a lot of money on the dog, ie vet appts, foods, etc?

Thanks girls!

Things I've Learned now that I'm Married

2010-06-23T22:26:00.000-04:00

If you turn down wine people automatically assume your pregnant and if you try to say things like
"No grandma I have to work early tomorrow or No thanks I'm on a diet", they decide you're definitely pregnant.

It's much easier to just drink the wine, even if it Wednesday and you're on a diet.

You learn something new everyday...

2010-06-10T21:06:00.000-04:00

While driving to a friend's birthday crab feast this weekend my husband turns me to and says "That is one sweet truck" to which I respond "Oh yeah" and then the conversation proceeds like this:

K: "No I mean did you see it- that thing is bad a**!! I mean that is a truck"

N: "Yeah that F250"

K: "If we ever win the lottery that's the first thing I'm buying"

N: "WHAT????" SINCE WHEN DO YOU LIKE TRUCKS???"

K: "I've always liked them, well the bad a** ones at least"

N: "WHAT?? SINCE WHEN DO YOU LIKE TRUCKS, YOU'VE NEVER TALKED ABOUT THEM BEFORE!!"

K: "I've always like trucks, they just aren't practical for what I do so I've never thought about having one"

N: "SERIOUSLY, you don't even like doing outdoorsy things and you're definitely not handy what use would you get out of a truck?? You drive a camry, you won't even let me get an SUV!! Seriously, you like trucks??

K: "Yeah why are you so surprised?"

So apparently my preppy conservative skinny unhandy not outdoorsy husband LOVES bad a** trucks.

You really do learn something new everyday...

**Disclaimer: I have nothing against trucks, I don't actually have a feeling on them either way I consider them "boy" toys. If you met or seen my husband you know he is about as far from a truck guy as possible that's why this is hilarious**
source

Did you miss me!?

2010-06-06T19:00:00.000-04:00

I never intended to be gone this long. I mean honestly, I really didn't. I thought 2 weeks at max, not 7.
Then I felt like the more time I spent away the harder it was for me to come back- does that make sense??

I wish I could tell you all you we were up to amazing life changing things but we really weren't. We were just busy living our real lives, not that you all aren't "real" but you know what I mean.

Well I just wanted to say Hello again and I promise (for real) I'll be back with more substantial posts in the next few days.

Ohhhh and thanks for sticking with me- I didn't lose any followers in the past 7 weeks, I guess I'm cooler than I thought or you all are too lazy to figure how to delete me from your google reader. I'm going with the first option.

Missed you all and can't wait to catch up!

A little blog self discovery

2010-04-21T22:08:00.000-04:00

I have a lot of different things right now keeping my little world busy and this blog always falls on the back burner. I also feel like my blog is a little disorganized lately with my topics flying all over the place, I guess last year since I was wedding planning I felt my blog had a theme and now well it's kind of just whatever pops into my mind. I prefer organization if possible and currently my life and blog are lacking that.

So I'm giving my life and this blog a little spring cleaning, so pardon the mess until I'm finished!

Thanks for understanding Bffs

xoxo

Nat

You know you're getting old when...

2010-04-15T23:06:00.000-04:00

You cash in some credit card points for one of these...

and it makes you really excited!

Friday Fun Facts: Best Investments

2010-04-02T13:15:00.000-04:00

It is sunny and going to 80 today so there isn't really much that can ruin my perma grin today!!

I thought I would talk a little bit about some of the best investments/purchases I/we've ever made. These are things I'm not sure I could ever live without now, is that sad?

-Sleep to Live Bed
This is the most comfortable bed I have ever slept in in my entire life. K and I had been sleeping on this Ikea mattress for a good year, myself for about 2 years. If you look closely you'll see it's mostly just a glorified foam mattress, let's just say it was awful and it was a FULL- two people over 5'9 should never sleep in a bed that small.
So after we got married we decided to upgrade and quite a few of our friends insisted we get the Sleep to Live bed. Let me tell you it is A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. It's like a Sleep Number bed, only better. That's right, better.   You lay on a test bed and tell them how you sleep and if you have any aches and pains then they pick a color for you and YOUR SIDE OF THE BED is made in that color and your sleep partners is there color. K and I were both green so our whole bed is green but my sis was an orange (super plus) and her boyfriend was a blue (firm) so their bed is half and half it's awesome.
The only downside is that I'm so comfortable in the mornings it's hard to pull myself out of bed.

-Clarisonic Facial Cleanser
This is the best thing that has ever happened to my skin. It is worth the $195.00, I promise you! (I was very lucky it get it on major discount from QVC thanks to sister in law)   I have fine lines from sun abuse, my face still breaks out, and my pores sway to the big side. The Clarisonic solves ALL of these problems- it makes my winkles/lines look smaller, it keeps my skin clear because my acne medicine can soak in and it helps make my pores smaller.   If I forget to use it for a few days you can totally tell and my skin starts to look raggedy.   I do not use the cleanser it comes with I actually use philosophy Purity- which I also swear by.

- A nice knife set
When I was registering for gifts I registered for this knife set. I registered for it with K in mind. I'm not much of a cook and to be honest I knew nothing about knives, I pretty much thought they were all equal. Boy was I wrong!! The first time I ever used one of our new knives I almost died. It cut right through my chicken without me even trying. I was so amazed I made K come watch me do it, he laughed and was like that is how knives are supposed to cut. I was so shocked and I have no idea how I lived so many years cooking with dull knives! (even though we received this as a gift I still think it counts)

-Home Warranty
When K and I purchased our home in 2008 one of the things we also purchased was a home warranty. Since our house was 15 years old and the previous owners didn't get a good record of how old everything was we thought it was a good idea. It's kind of like health insurance for your appliances, plumbing, heating, and electrical. It cost $522.00 per year. We purchased it for 1 year and have now since renewed it. So many people thought it was a complete was of money but I totally disagree. Any visit or appointment to come fix something is just $60.00. We had a plumber come out and do 4 different jobs for just $60.00, my dad estimated that without that we would have spent well over $400.00. We've had an electrician come out and do two different jobs for just $60.00 which again estimated to be over $400.00 worth of work. If any appliance breaks and cannot be fixed our warranty covers a brand new appliance, while it might not be a cherry red Samsung steam dryer it will be a perfectly good working dryer that will only cost us $60.00. Our air conditioner is about 15 years old and to die and we're so happy we have the warranty!!   If you are a first time home buyer and moving into an older home I suggest you get one because you NEVER know when something might break or die and you don't have a landlord anymore to come fix it!

-My Blackberry
Only because I don't have an iphone yet! I hate to say it but now that I have a Blackberry I can't imagine ever going back to a regular cell phone. Sometimes I hate being that connected but at the same time I love having everything at my fingertips- I feel lost without it (sad but true). I know so many people that feel this way once they have a Blackberry or iphone!

-Our House
This one is kind of obvious but investing in real estate is some of the best investing you can do! Especially now that home prices are lower again, at least near me. We were able to get our house under market value and it was appraised for $15,000 more than we paid for, and this was before we did some updating to it. Yay!! Coming from a family of Realtors and being one myself for a little while it was an investment we just could not pass up.   If only we lived in a more affordable area like I see on HGTV :)

So what's the best investment/purchase you've ever made? Is there something you just can't live without? Anyone have any worst investments/purchases?

What's Up?

2010-04-01T11:11:00.000-04:00

Hey Blog friends- What's up? How have you all been? I feel like it's been forever since I put together a post that required any brain power.

I've been too busy enjoying this amazing weather Mother Nature has finally bestowed on us after our AWFUL winter here in the mid-atlantic to really take the time to blog. Plus my husband has been coming home early (like 7:30pm around these parts) and traveling less so I've been trying to spend time with him rather than with my head in the computer.

I also realized I haven't taken any pictures of myself or anyone actually since Christmas, which is probably good because no one wants to see me pale, with roots, and an extra 10lbs from hibernating.

Wedding Season 2010 officially kicks off next weekend with a bridal shower that I am hosting for my good friend Allison, it's Maryland themed and her wedding colors are white, black, yellow, and red just like the flag! I can't wait to share pics of how everything turns out.

I've been power walking at least 3x a week with my sister which feels great in this weather and has helped boost my exercising since running just hasn't been enjoyable these days.

We're spending Easter weekend in PA with K's family it will be nice to see them all- I haven't been up there since Christmas (eek!)

Oh and I'm getting a spray tan tonight because it's supposed to be in the 70's all weekend and no one likes to see pale legs sticking out under a skirt. So happy spring is finally here :)

HOW EXCITED ARE YOU???

2010-03-31T09:16:00.000-04:00

I CANNOT wait...

I promise I'll be back later with a post with some substance- I just thought you all had to see this!

Dear Facebook Friends,

2010-03-22T17:56:00.000-04:00

I don't use Facebook to hear about your political affiliations. I only use it to see whether or not your life is cooler than mine. Which clearly it isn't since you have nothing else to do but update your status all day.

So please stop posting 1,000,000 status updates about your feelings on healthcare reform.

Sincerely,

Nat

Friday Fun Facts

2010-03-19T12:13:00.000-04:00

Today after work I'm going to be sitting at a restaurant where the view looks like this...

I'm going to be enjoying some of these...

and a lot of these...

Then I'm going to watch these guys crush Houston...

Happy Friday and it's a good thing I'm not Gisele because I'm pretty sure bottomless chips & salsa are not on her menu tonight!

So Not Fair

2010-03-18T14:44:00.000-04:00

Gisele had a baby and is still skinnier than me

source

... and her boobs are bigger

Green- Yay or Nay?

2010-03-17T13:08:00.000-04:00

Do you like green as a color, like in the fashion sense of green? Do wear green often?

I never thought I owned a lot of green until I started really thinking about it and I realized I have quite a lot of green!
I have 2 green dresses, 1 green sweater, 1 green polo, and green shorts. Green comes in so many different shades it can be easy to find a green you like!

Here are some cute green items I came across recently:

DVF wrap dress from Nordstrom

J.Crew Cotton Cady dress

Old Navy Trench coat

Maggy London dress from Nordstrom

Ralph Lauren polo

Does anyone remember these??

Colored Saucony sneakers were so popular my freshman and sophomore year of college. I never had a pair but it felt like EVERYONE else did in green, blue, yellow, pink, orange, etc.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!! I could really use some boxty and cheese right now..... yum and maybe some green wine?

source

It's a good day

2010-03-16T21:47:00.000-04:00

-It was sunny and warm, so warm I didn't need a jacket and I drove with the windows down

-I went shopping for spring clothes and a package I've been waiting for from Ideeli arrived

-It's supposed to be 68 degrees this weekend... ahhhh, I might be able to lay out and work on my tan

-Tomorrow is Wednesday which means my work week is almost over!

-Reese's peanut butter eggs were only 39 cents at Rite Aid today

It's going to be Spring (finally) this Saturday!

Afraid of a itsy bitsy spider or how perfume saved my life

2010-03-10T22:03:00.000-05:00

So the other day as I was ~~speeding~~ driving to work when I thought I saw something moving out of the corner of my right eye on my rear view mirror (you know the one in the middle of the windshield- not to be confused with the ones that stick out the sides of the car).

I glance and don't see anything, then it happens again and I look really quickly and I see a... SPIDER

My first reaction is obviously sane and mature... screaming and a long string of cuss words because the spider that is 2 millimeters by 2 millimeters is going to fall onto my steering wheel causing me to freak out and panic, take my hands off the wheel and crash right into the median, because obviously that's what the spider is plotting.

I can't pull over because I'll be late for work, and by late I mean 10 minutes later than I normally am so like 20 minutes late total.

So I do what any logical girl would do.

I dig through my purse and find my Philosophy Love perfume and then I proceed to frantically spray the rear view mirror until it is totally soaked. The front, the back, the sides, and even part of my dashboard, just in case. I don't even want to know what the people driving next to me were thinking.

It's been days and the smell in my car is still unbearable. I won't be wearing that perfume anymore.

In good news I haven't had another spider sighting since then.

Do you Snooze?

2010-03-09T09:46:00.001-05:00

I have a problem and it involves the snooze button. I am a chronic snoozer.

Chronic snoozer.

I set my alarm for 30-45 minutes before I need to get up so that I can SNOOZE.

I don't feel complete unless I've snoozed at least once if not twice. I have to steal back those 30 minutes.

It's bad. It has to stop. This morning I snoozed for 2 HOURS, 2 FREAKING HOURS.

Now I'm groggy, sluggish and the bags under my eyes are screaming look at me, I aged about 5 years this morning.

So I think its time that me and my snooze button part ways. For good.

To One Piece or Not to One Piece

2010-03-06T14:23:00.001-05:00

I told my husband I was thinking of buying a one piece this year because I haven't worn one in years and J.Crew always has really cool ones.

This was his response, "Umm you're not wearing a one piece you are not 45. Your Mom is in her 50's and still wears a bikini. Absolutely not I will not approve that purchase."

It is true my 54 year old mother still wears a bikini, she does have an amazing body though (and I can only hope I look that good when I'm her age) so I guess it might look weird if her daughter is the one in the one piece.

I haven't worn a one piece in years and if I did it was usually a speedo because I was a swimmer but look how cute these are...

So do you wear a one piece or a bikini?

Dear ABC,

2010-03-02T10:56:00.000-05:00

Why did you pick Jake to be on DWTS?? We are ALL so SICK of him and his cheesiness. I'm hoping that he "accidentally" gets decked by Chad Ochocinco. If I have to hear him talk about the sausage I will change the channel. Don't even get me started on Mom of the Year Kate Gosselin....

Soo Ali is the new bachelorette, what a shocker?? I didn't see that coming at all!! No way! I wonder why she left the show early? Maybe because she decided Jake was not her type and was ~~begging~~ hoping and wishing that ABC would pick her as the next bachelorette because she didn't get her love and now she learned that ~~fame and hollywood~~ love is more important than a career.

ABC I'm just plain disappointed in you right now. You might be able to win me back with Bachelor Pad- but only if it's as trashy and scandalous as it appears it's going to be.

Thanks for listening...

xoxo,
Nat

In like a Lion, out like a Lamb

2010-03-01T19:41:00.000-05:00

That's how I'm hoping March 2010 treats us this year. I am so ready for summer, I just want to skip spring and April showers completely and just go straight to 85 degrees with 85% humidity. I want to sweat and have flat, limp hair for crying out loud. I am OVER winter.

Moving on.

We had a lovely weekend despite having to attend a funeral. If you've ever been to an Irish Catholic funeral then you know they are long (like 5 hrs) and have ample amounts of alcohol flowing (to get you through the 5 hrs). I swear Irish Catholics can turn anything into an excuse to throw a party or luncheon, what ever you want to call it.

The Terps beat Virginia Tech this weekend in a double overtime which was awesome and made me reminisce my about my ~~glory days~~ college years spent watching b-ball. Oh the memories.

In EXCITINGJUMPUPANDDOWN news my brother and sister in law left for CA today because they are adopting a baby boy and he is due on Wednesday!! We're hoping he comes on time so they can hurry home and I can spoil him with presents.

So do any mommy's have any suggestions for must haves with a newborn/infant/baby boy?? Since they're adopting she didn't have a traditional shower and I know she has the "essentials" but were there anythings you just could not live without that you could suggest I get for them.
Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!

Are you all ready for the bachelor?? Since I hate surprised I totally read the spoilers so I'm hoping Reality Steve was WRONG!!
If you want to join us I'll be tweeting with Babbling Abby, Duet Diva, and Dave and Brit Plus One who started After the final tweet and many other girls using #ATFT

Friday Fun Facts

2010-02-19T12:08:00.000-05:00

- I am ~~OBSESSED~~ Huge fan of Secret Life of the American Teenager. For those of you who watch, which is probably no one since I'm pretty sure my readers aren't teenagers, I am a RAMY fan, that's Ricky and Amy and I like sooo want them to get together. I don't like Adrian I think she's kind of whorific and Ben is just weird. Wait actually all the characters are strange and everyone talks about sex WAY TOO MUCH. But ABC Family likes to tease me with a Ricky & Amy kiss so I keep coming back for more...

- This cold weather is killing me. I went outside the other day and I thought it felt warm, it was 37. Seriously. My body is actually so used to it being FREEZING that apparently it now thinks 37 is warm.

- I'm a closet Destiny's Child fan. I've probably posted that somewhere on this blog before but I'm too lazy to look. See it's weird because in general I'm not a Beyonce fan, at all. There is just something about Bills, Bills, Bills, Survivor, Bootylicious, and Bug a Boo that just does it for me

- I'm not a writer and I don't have this blog because I want to me a writer. As a matter of fact half the time I don't even know when to use there, their, or they're and my literature choices usually have titles like Mating Rituals of a North American Wasp, Queen of Babble gets Hitched, and Nearlyweds

- I gave up pizza for lent yet there is a pizza in my freezer taunting me. It's just evil.

- If blogger didn't have spell check you all would be SOL reading my blog posts.

- There is so much snow left in Maryland they have taken to dumping it into bay because there is no where to put it and I'm pretty sure it won't melt until April

- "Let he who is without sin cast the first stone" that is how I feel about the Tiger Woods speech and this whole situation in general, who are we to judge? Since when is it our job to judge?

- I don't know if like the new We Are the World, my grandmother was a huge Lionel Richie fan and the old version makes me think about being in her house when I was a little girl and all of our old memories. Plus who is Justin Bieber?

- So happy it's Friday and it's sunny even though it's only 40 I'm so happy to see the sun again!

Answers, Snow, and Lent

2010-02-17T11:44:00.000-05:00

So I think I'm finally back in my normal routine. Thanks to the snow I was in the office a total of 13 hours last week and I was "working from home" on the other days but let's be honest this snow storm shut down the whole state so instead I was eating pancakes, drinking wine, and playing Scattergories with my parents.

Which was fun but let me tell you being snowed in with your parents while your husband is in Houston gets old after about 3 days so the minute those roads cleared I was home faster than you can say thanksforlettingmebesnowedinandeatingallofyourfoodanddrinkingallofyourwine.

I'm over the snow so I made a list of southern cities I wanted to move to. Then those cities went and GOT SNOW so I was like whiskey tango foxtrot, I guess we're moving to the Caribbean.

Lent starts today or what I like to call the 40 days I try to make up for all the sinning (as in over indulgence of food, etc) I do the other 325 days a year.

This year in the H household we will be giving up: Pizza and desserts

**one exception is the Crumbs cupcakes we still have left in our freezer which we know won't hold for 40 days but we'll be eating those on Sundays (you know the "cheat day"), I just had to be honest**

Ok now on to the second part of my answers.....

Brittany Ann wants to know...
What lessons have you learned being married these last few months?
I think the biggest lesson I've learned is that it's not just about me anymore especially when it comes to spending money- this one might seem obvious or even stupid since we've been together 6.5 years but we never shared money prior to getting married and as I've said before I'm a spender, he's a saver.
So it's taken a lot of adjusting on my part to learn that I can't just go spend $500 even $200 without at least letting K know, I'm still a work in progress as far as this whole sharing money thing goes but I'm learning. It has definitely curbed by shopping habit for the most part because I'm learning to save for our future.

Jules asked...
1. What are some of your pet peeves?
a) People who reply all on mass emails!!! Nothing annoys me more than this especially when you don't      know half the people on the list and they are making jokes or saying something that isn't important to you.    Just respond to the sender!
b) People who leave their turn signal on- especially on a busy road or highway because you're constantly anticipating their turn!!!

2. How did you and your husband meet?
   Well let's see it's kind of a long story... or actually I just don't know how to tell short stories. So bear with me.
Well it was the first week of summer after my junior year of college. I was actually seeing this guy S for a few months (nothing serious) and he begged me to go out on a Tuesday night in the first week of June to meet his roommate F who had been abroad in London and few of F's friends. I really didn't want to go but reluctantly agreed to go because I knew my friend Ali would be there and I could hear my mother in my head saying "Go you might meet someone". So I put on my black Gap halter top and my Abercrombie & Fitch cut off jean skirt with some J.crew flip flops so you know I was looking H-O-T, haha, and I went out.
*disclaimer this was 2003 and I had just turned 21*

So S introduces me to his roommate and all of his friends. Well I start chatting with this cute guy K in a striped polo shirt and we have one of those conversations that's like "no way me too!" and we realize we have a ton in common.   After spending most of the night talking to K I realize it's time to leave and I honestly don't want to leave, I just want to keep talking to K but then I remember the whole part about how I came with another guy so I say nice to meet you and go home.

I go to work the next day not really thinking much about the night before so the next night I have plans to meet up with S and his friends at a bar. Well my friend Ali calls me and says she really needs to talk to me, I don't think much of it so I tell her I'll just chat with her when I get to bar.   I get to the bar and Ali pulls me aside immediately and is like "K wants to date you" and I'm like ":who?" and she's like "K the guy in the striped shirt" and I'm like "Whoa he met me for like 2 hours, and really he wants to DATE ME?? Wow" and she's like "I know, he says you're way to hot to be dating S and you should be dating him"   At this point I'm thinking Ok Mr. Cocky, WAIT he called me Hot, ok never mind he can be cocky. Then she tells me that K told her he used to see my on campus freshman year when we lived in the dorms and he always wanted to talk to me because he thought I was cute but didn't know how!!   I'm shocked because I've never seen him before. ever. and I knew a lot of people at this point in college. So I tell Ali that I should probably break things off with S but that she is more than welcome to try to set us up if she wants to, obviously she agrees because I swear girls LOVE setting each other up.

I decide to wait a few days before I say anything to S because I don't want it to be too obvious and part of me felt a little bad, he was a really nice guy but he deserved a girl that really liked him not one that was just kind of dating him because well she didn't have anyone else to date. ( I know that probably sounds awful but I was young). So on Friday night I tell S that we should just be friends and that I've had a lot of fun with him and I wish him the best of luck and he says "It's K isn't it, you're going to date him aren't you" and I was like "umm what, no, no where did you hear that??" and he was like " I didn't I could just tell on Tuesday when you guys were talking, you just looked good together and it just seemed like something was clicking with you two, like you guys should be dating. I was just waiting for you tell me" I was totally shocked at this point and didn't really know what to say but I said "Honestly that's part of the reason. We really hit it off and I think I just want to give it a shot. Don't be mad at me this may all backfire in my face and then I guess you'll have the last laugh". He said he wasn't mad, a little upset and disappointed but not mad. We hugged and agreed to be friends.

I didn't see K again until a week later when my friend Ali called me to meet up with her, F, and his friends. We ended up again at a bar talking all night again until finally I asked him if he was going to get my number (man I was ballsy at 21) and he said Yes I was just going to ask you. He called me the next day at 10am we made plans for that night, and the next night and then we pretty much spent the rest of the summer glued to each other, totally grossly obsessed and in love with one another. I was scared that when summer was over and everyone came back to school he would go back to hanging out with his frat brothers and send me packing but as you all know that didn't happen....

I still have a few more questions to answer so I'll be back with those tomorrow!

Thank You!!

2010-02-10T16:50:00.000-05:00

I cannot Thank all of you enough for your wonderful prayers and words of encouragement via this blog and twitter. You all truly are amazing. My grandma did great in her procedure and there is nothing major wrong with her! Yay! It looks like they just need to change around her medicines and she needs to make some dietary changes and she should be fine.

I really, really appreciate it. My blogs friends truly are some of the best. I am currently home today because our offices are closed thanks to Snowmageddon round two. I'm at my parents house and I'm pretty sure we won't get dug out of here until at least March maybe even April.

I thought I would share some pics:

It looks like the house is half buried which is practically is

The buried mailbox

The view out the front door

Somewhere under there is a pool and a Koi pond

Prayers Needed

2010-02-09T20:04:00.000-05:00

Sorry I don't normally do this but my grandmother went into the hospital with a little cough and now they think it's something much bigger than that. She has to have a cardiac procedure tomorrow morning so if you all keep her in your prayers we would really appreciate that. Thanks!!

Stuck at my parents house for Snowmageddon round 2 while K is down in Houston for work, he said it's 55 and sunny. I am so jealous.

28 Years Ago Today...

2010-02-08T20:15:00.003-05:00

My wonderful mother walked herself to the hospital while my dad was at work because she thought you might be in labor. 10 hours later I wasn't budging AT ALL so I was delivered via c-section at 11:05pm, almost a Feb 9th baby. My mother is still in shock that she has a 28 yr old child.

Now on to the important part...Part I

Q. Abby wants to know...
1) When do you and K want to get preggers?
I think it will be at least another year before we have babies or I should say a baby. I would like to say earlier because I have the baby fever BAD but K is going back to school this fall to get his MBA but will still be working full-time so we want to see how hard the balance of work and school is before we throw a baby into the mix.

2) Pending question A, when are having our official bloggy meet-up? Ha! :)
Since I'm currently childless and will be for 2010 I can do a blogger meet up ANYTIME and due to my childless state I am willing to travel!!   Pick a date and I'll be there :)

Q. Abbie asks...
1) If you could do anything in the world, with absolutely no restrictions, what would you do?
Gosh this is a tough one... Probably quit my job, move to the Caribbean and just hang out and spend our savings just enjoying life. Honestly this is my absolute dream but I have too many "responsibilities" to actually do it.

2) What's your favorite movie?
Legally Blonde-I probably watched it about 1000 times my Sophomore year of college and have watched it about 1000 times since. At 19 I totally felt inspired by this movie and still do :)

3) What would your dream job be?
I would LOVE to open my own store/shop whether it be a clothing store or a cupcake bakery. I like to be my own boss and I'm pretty sure one day I will be.

Q. D.A.R asked...
1) If you had to drastically cut your budget, what are the 3 things that you could never compromise on (either cutting out or buying a cheaper/off-brand)?

1. Philosophy Purity face wash
2. Philosophy Hope in a Jar lotion or L'Occitane Precious Cream
3. Bare minerals make up

My face has been breaking out since I was about 14 and it's also super dry and sensitive meaning it sucks and I have tried EVERYTHING under the sun.
Purity is the ONLY face wash that keeps my skin clear and Hope in a Jar or Precious Cream are the only moisturizers that are heavy enough yet don't break my face out. Bare Minerals is also the only make up I can wear. So I will pretty much never skimp on anything dealing with my face no matter what.

2) If you could have a "Do-over" on one thing about your wedding, what would it be?
I would get the simple J.Crew dress I wanted when I was panicking right before the wedding. I am a little disappointed in a lot of my professional photos and I don't think it's the photographer it's the dress. The dress was way to heavy for a summer wedding so you can see how uncomfortable I am in.   Needless to say despite the dress I still had a wonderful wedding but if I had been more comfortable I know that would have helped.

3) What characteristics in your parents do you most hope to emulate for your {future} children?
I hope to instill a good work ethic and to remember never to take yourself too seriously. My parents taught us that the only way to get ahead is to work hard and to work hard for yourself, not because someone else told you to.   Humor was a huge part of our lives and it was important for us to learn that we weren't perfect and we were going to make mistakes but those mistakes would help us to grow along the way.

Q. TheLuckiestMrs asks So, we know you love wine...what's your favorite? You know...your "go-to"?

My go to white wine is Cavit Pinot Grigio or Barefoot Pinot Grigio- whichever one is on sale at the liquor store! Neither one are "luxury" but they're both light and easy to drink which is what I look for in my wine and they're affordable!

My go to red wine is Smoking Loon Pinot Noir- again it's nice light and easy to drink and affordable

If I'm bring wine for a party or gift I usually step it up a little and spend more $$

I try to avoid heavy wines because most are aged in oak trees and I'm allergic to oak so I wake up with puffy eyes and a stuffy nose.

Q. Crazy Shenanagins asks me...
1) If you could live anywhere, where would it be?
Gosh another hard one I've never been to southern California and I have a feeling if I did go that would change this answer but here it is.... I would probably say Charleston, SC. It reminds me a lot of my hometown Annapolis, MD but it is much warmer and you the city life with the beach literally 10 minutes away. Plus I love palm trees and Battery Ln is to.die.for.

2) Name one place you wouldn't want to move to
New York City. I love the city and I love to visit but I would never survive there. There is just too much going on and it's way too intense for me.

Stay tuned for part II and keep my grandmother in your prayers she went into the hospital yesterday

Go Saints!

2010-02-07T16:25:00.000-05:00

I am rooting for The Saints for two reasons....

1. I like Kim Kardashian more than I like Kendra Wilkinson

2. My high school mascot, if you can call it that, was The Saints and our symbol was the Fleur de lis

source

How to Survive a Blizzard

2010-02-05T08:00:00.002-05:00

First make sure that you have plenty of healthy meals to last through the weekend....

and of course the low calorie desserts (courtesy of my amazing in-laws)...

Obviously you're going to thirsty so you'll need to rehydrate...

And lastly make sure your DVR is full so you can catch up on important Current Events....

Bring it on Mother Nature- we're ready!

Remember if you have a question you can click here to ask me anything!

How to Make a Beautiful Life Together

2010-02-03T11:01:00.000-05:00

K and I just recently received a wedding gift and the card it came it had a beautiful message that I had to share with you all. (Oh and nothing like getting money 5 months after the wedding- Yay!)

How to Make a Beautiful Life Together

Reflections on Marriage for the Bride and Groom

Let love be your shelter.

The world is noisy and confusing at times,

So make a home that is a haven, a peaceful place where you can

listen to your hearts and savor the comfortable closeness you share.

No matter how busy your days may be, make time for yourselves.

Hold hands.

Unwind.

Surprise each other.

Find little chances every day to show you're grateful to be partners,

to be friends, to be married.

Life is not perfect.

You will make mistakes,

but each time you meet life's challenges together,

you will grow wiser, stronger, and surer of your love.

Cherish your yesterdays.

They are irreplaceable souvenirs of your journey through life.

Make memories that will bring smiles and sighs whenever you look back.

(Look back often!)

Look forward, too.

Dream together. Plan together.

Make promises to keep.

Believer in your tomorrows,

because tomorrows are what forever is made of.

To make love last, put each other first.

That is the way to make a beautiful life together,

the kind of life you both deserve so much.

I totally cried after I read this because it's true.

Top 10 Reasons I need a Highlight

2010-01-29T09:52:00.001-05:00

10. I have concocted a weird up do that only shows the blonde parts

9. I tell people that I currently have winter "low lights"

8. Before people can even look at my head I tell them not to worry I've already made a hair appointment

7. I have tried parting it on the other side in hopes of finding some blonde hiding underneath the 2 in long roots

6. I'm starting to forget what it feels like to be a blonde

5. I'm considering getting a spray tan in hopes that the darker skin color will off set the darker hair color

4. I've started to reason with myself about how mousy brown might actually be a cute color on me

3. I forget what it feels like to be a blonde

2. I compared my roots to Vienna on the Bachelor and none of my girlfriends disagreed

1. My husband came into the bathroom after I dried my hair this morning and said "We need to get you to the hair doctor and fast!"

Happy Friday!!

Sorry I totally ripped the top 10 list idea off like 5 bloggers this week :)

Upholstered Love

2010-01-26T17:56:00.007-05:00

So over here at Casa H we've been working on redecorating the master bedroom and bathroom. I am dying for an upholstered headboard. I am I.love.with.them.

I am however not in love with their price tags so, Gasp, I'm going to ~~attempt to~~ make my own!

One for my room and one for my guest room.

Below are some inspirations:

I love tufted headboards

I especially love tufted headboards with romantic shapes

or how about this one? Not tufted but still gorgeous

or how about this one with the nail head trim ? It's so classic.

How fun is this striped one?!?!
I'm sorta leaning toward this one, but I don't know for a master bedroom

or this bright blue one?

or another fun colorful one! If only I liked bright colors!

I am loving this one too and the bedside table and the awesome lamp

So bffs which one do you like best?

Would you do a simple solid white or tan headboard
or a fun color or pattern?

Source
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What was I thinking?

2010-01-25T13:11:00.005-05:00

Or why did I sign up for another half marathon?!

I usually take a workout "vacation" during the holidays to enjoy copious amounts of apple pie, wine, cookies, and egg nog ice cream and only workout sporadically. So obviously this year was no different, except it was.

Prior to the holidays I had a solid 6 weeks of "good" regular work outs that were making me feel great. Prior to those 6 weeks I don't think I had worked out regularly since June 2009 when I was on my 30 day Shred kick numero dos.
The weeks leading up to the wedding were very stressful for me trying to tie everything together so exercising got put on the back burner when in reality it shouldn't have been because the endorphins would have definitely helped the stress but I digress.

So I really haven't run further than 3 miles in about 7 months which is one heck of a long time for me.

I am a runner.

It's the only form of exercise I truly enjoy. I am not flexible enough for yoga or pilates and I'm not coordinated enough for aerobics or zumba. Trust me.

So what did I do on Saturday? I hopped on the treadmill set it to 1.0 incline and put it at 6.0 to start. I was ready to bust out a 3 mile run at 10 minute miles, I figured it would be easy.

Hahahahahahahahahaha. That is what my body laughing at me.

I got in about 1 minute before I had to reduce the speed to 5.7 and I broke into a heavy sweat about 5 minutes in. I sweat a lot when I work out but not until 10-15 minutes into my workout, not five.
This was bad. I decided to run intervals- 3 minutes at 5.7, 2 minutes at 5.9 and do that for next 3o minutes. Let's just say I only got through 15 minutes before I thought I was going to pass out or fall off the treadmill and have to be revived. (I've fallen off a treadmill before it's not fun or pretty for anyone involved.)

So I pulled my super sweaty self off the treadmill and humbly walked over the elliptical machine where I finished my workout.

My race is in 19 weeks. I have a lot of work cut out for myself. I'll keep you updated with my workout schedule and progress.

Did I mention my quads are so sore today it hurts to go up and down stairs, ugh.

Real life is getting in the way

2010-01-20T12:33:00.003-05:00

Sorry but real life has been getting in the way of me putting together a meaningful blog post. I promise I will be back soon with something, hopefully well thought out and without too many grammatical errors.

So I'll leave you with you this... I could so use a vacation back here right now!

Aruba
Can't you just see me sipping a Strawberry daiquiri working on my golden tan....

source

3 day weekend

2010-01-15T09:00:00.001-05:00

Is anyone else excited for a 3 day weekend? I know I sure am. Any reason for a day off makes me smile.

We have some bigs plans around Casa H this weekend. We, well I, will be painting our master bathroom. Our bathroom is currently a pale blue (it actually looks brighter in these photos) that we had painted when we moved in a year and a half ago. The color is Duron Quiksilver. The painter we hired did not due the best job on this room so we've decided to re-paint it. The walls have been painted many times over the years and they are a little uneven. The pale blue makes this uneveness stand out even more so we're going with a slightly darker color.

We are going with Relaxed Khaki another Duron color. Our guest bathroom is actually painted this color already and it's one of our favorite colors.

Below are pics of the prepping I started:

Luckily the color is light so we don't have to use a primer. Like when we bought the house and our master bathroom looked like this:

Do you like that neon green color? That's not even the brightest green that was in the house. Wait until I you all that one.

Prayers for Haiti

2010-01-14T09:27:00.004-05:00

Obviously the earthquake in Haiti is devastating to everyone but it hits home with me because one of my best friends little sister's has been working there for the past year. She is with a group of doctors and medical professionals helping to build and establish clinics to bring medical care to some of the most impoverished towns in Haiti.
I've been reading her emails through the past months and I'm just constantly amazed by the work she does and the life she's been living. I mean no Jersey Shore, the Bachelor, heck not even electricity or clean water at times. I would never survive and I am always so amazed with the things that people do to help others in need.

Thankfully she happened to be home this week on medical school interviews!! So crazy because if she didn't set them up she would have been there. It just gives me the chills thinking about it. She sent out an email this morning to let us know she's ok and that her clinic is ok, they felt the earthquake but weren't rocked nearly as hard as Port au Prince. She is heading back to Haiti on Jan 18th if all continues as is and they don't face anymore aftershocks.

The doctor she works with directly left this morning to head to Port au Prince to look for his wife and newborn son because he can't get in contact with them. Please keep them and all the others in Haiti in your prayers!!

Cook Yourself Thin Giveaway!

2010-01-13T11:58:00.002-05:00

Looking for new delicious recipes that will let you enjoy your food yet still look hot in those leggings!!

Then head over to visit Sara from Running from the Law! She's giving one lucky winner the
Cook Yourself Think Cookbook!!

Enjoy!

The Bachelor Recap

2010-01-11T18:31:00.004-05:00

First off you totally need to come play with us during After the Final Tweet. You can find more info if you visit Babbling Abby but it was too much fun!

1. Oh Jake. He is just way to sappy and sweet to be a man and feelingsish. I like my men just a bit more manly.

2. On the Wings of Love- seriously ABC.

3. I'm afraid of flying and Ali looked awfully calm for someone who was "terrifed" she did say she was going to "throw up in her stomach" though.

4. Roz- you can't turn a ho into a housewife

5. Oh a bikini. That is subtle

6. Michelle, as K would put it "is totally batsh*t crazy." He's only keeping her because ABC doesn't want to deal with a suicide attempt

7. Elizabeth- first a note, then no kissing, then being a tease. Girl figure yourself out.

8. Vienna it's always a really good idea to tell a guy you've known for a week about some weird engagement- break up- marriage thing. Also WHY ARE YOU STILL AROUND??

9. Christina stop drinking you're talking too much.

10. Ali try not to name the last 5 boyfriends you've had with "J" names it doesn't sound as funny as you think

11. Chris Harrison you rocked (minus the choking up- that was weird). That was my favorite scene ever with you, you really know how to tell a girl like it is, even a "confused" one.

12. Define "inappropriate relationship" and can I see a picture of this producer, come on TMZ you've got to have something?!

13. Roz- again you cannot turn a ho into a housewife

14. Tenley- what are you doing tell him about the divorce!!!

Some of the good tweets through out the night:

DuetDiva "something turned him off" -it was the blue flight attendant outfit

namastebyday It would have been cooler if Jake said, "A male staffer or a female staffer?"

namastebyday Just once, when someone says, "can I steal Jake?" I want the other girl to say, "HELL no! Back off!"

daveandbrit Who wears the crazy panties????? I'll give it to Michelle.

babblingabby This show is out-awkwarding The Hills.

babblingabby Now B says: Roz is skanktastic and whorific. I am dying.

Friday Fun Facts

2010-01-08T10:58:00.003-05:00

Because today feels like a bullet point kind of day

-It snowed here last night but not enough to warrant even a 2 hour delay let alone a snow day. Next time mother nature I would like a blizzard, I could use another 3 day weekend or at least a day off work.

-I am lurker. There are quite a few blogs I visit daily or weekly that I never comment on. I've decided 2010 would be a good time to come out of hiding and finally comment. Clearly I find what they're writing interesting so I should totally tell them, right? You know you all do it too and I'm sure there are probably some lurkers on my blog, so come forward and just say hi!

- I knocked a filling out on the upper left side of my month about 3 weeks ago, I really don't want to spend the $$ to get it fixed so I've been drinking all my drinks luke warm and chewing on the right side. I know eventually I must cave and get it fixed. Can anyone tell me why fillings are sooo expensive??

- I LOVE home decor. I'm completely obsessed with home design/decor/DIY blogs, tv shows, and magazines. Actually I'm just obsessed with houses in general. I'm still working on our house and figuring out my "design style" but I'm having a blast doing it. (I have a laundry lists of blogs I ~~stalk~~ consult, if you're interested- let me know.)
Want to try a fun design style quiz, go here. It's says I'm Nantucket Style.

- I find blogging so fascinating. I read blogs from all over the country and I have a lot in common with people but then on other levels we are all so different. I mean I consider all of you my friends, yet I've never met any of you in real life! It's crazy what the internet has done for us, I guess this is what online dating is like?!

- I am so ready for summer. I don't like sweaters or cold weather in general.

- I like being my own boss. I will own my own company or store one day.

- I don't like things with glaring designer labels. Wow we can see it's Juicy did you have to have it plastered across your butt like that! There are even some handbags I don't like because I think you're just asking for people to look at you. Don't get me wrong I love designer labels, trust me and I'm not saying anything is wrong with that and I don't want to insult any of my readers, it's just not my style. I'm into subtle fashion statements.

- Ikea is one of my favorite stores. I don't care how crowded it is I still love going there and I could spend hours browsing, I mean the stuff is so cheap it's crazy. Plus they have some darn good cinnamon buns.

- I am so excited to come home from work today pour myself a glass of wine, put on my pink snuggie, and watch tv knowing that I don't have to work tomorrow. It truly live for my weekends.

NYE

2010-01-07T18:36:00.003-05:00

So I'm a week late but here are some pics from NYE and by pics I mean 2. I'm not sure who was manning my camera during our girls marathon photo session but they missed all the good photos!!

Me & K

Me and my sis Lovely Chaos

I don't feel like re-hashing all the details but lets just say our fancy schmacy (I love that fake word) party turned out to be awful and we left after 30 minutes and we went here.

So this jeans and t-shirt crowd ended up right where we should have been all along. In a dive bar dressed to the nines drinking cheap beer and even cheaper red wine ringing in 2010.

Next year I've saving my money and staying home!

Goodbye 2009, Hello 2010

2010-01-05T18:09:00.004-05:00

We are officially 5 days in the new year and new decade and so far I have no complaints. It's going to be hard to top 2009 because of this one minor event in my life but I have a feeling 2010 isn't going to disappoint.

Now are we calling it twenty ten or two thousand and ten? or maybe just ten? Thoughts?

I'm not a fan of new years resolutions.
Like I need something else to feel guilty about?

I'm pretty sure I've never followed through on any of my resolutions except for 2006 when I stopped eating fast food for one whole year and trust me Jan 1, 2007 I was all over McDonalds like ketchup on a hotdog, but other than that I usually F-A-I-L with a capital F.

So in efforts to keep down my Catholic guilt level in the yellow zone in the new year I've decided instead to set 2 goals for myself.

1. Run another half marathon
2. Run another full marathon

Stop laughing at me, I can see all of you who know I haven't run further than 3 miles in 6 months.

I haven't yet signed up for either one yet but I plan to sign up for the half marathon for this May/June and then do the full marathon in the fall.
The decision on the full marathon will be made close to or after the half marathon as I want to see how my body handles the half marathon.
I would really like to complete both of these again before 30 so I figure what a better year than my 28th (not yet but only one month until I'm 28 (insert loud scream here)).

Well there you have it. What are some of your goals for 2010?

I will back tomorrow with a picture filled post of our NYE, lets just say our fancy schmacy party didn't really turn out as expected.

2009 Year in Review

2009-12-30T21:19:00.011-05:00

2009 has been one amazing year!!

Looking back over it and re-reading my blog posts just makes me remember how truly blessed we really are. K and I have been so lucky over the past year with the state of the economy to get to continue to enjoy our life as we had in previous years.
I've been so lucky to share all of these amazing experiences with this wonderful blog community of friends I've made over the past year. You all continue to amaze me with all your wonderful thought provoking, funny, heart warming posts and your generous comments you bestow on me and my long, boring, silly and sometimes whiny stories!

I hope you all have an amazing New Years Eve.

We are going to a party at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC. That is a fancy black tie optional party and I'm wearing the dress below.
This is very out of character for us as we're more dive bar jeans & t-shirt types but you only live once right, and what a better way to ring in a new decade.

source

Fun, isn't it?? I've never worn a one shoulder anything before!

Thankfully I scored the above dress for $43 thanks to sales and gift cards, which is a steal considering it was $152!!
So if any of you ladies need to borrow it just let me know. I'm all for sharing.

Here are some highlights of 2009 in pictures:

Trip to Rhode Island in May for a wedding

My 1st bridal shower

Our good friends L & L's wedding

Trip to OBX with K's family

My second bridal hosted by my MIL and SILs

Our good friends G & K's wedding

Our wedding day
August 29, 2009

Honeymoon in Aruba!!

Christmas 2009

our attempt at a timed family photo

New wool harbor Jcrew coats!!

Happy New Year!

Can't wait to see what 2010 holds for us!

Merry Christmas!!

2009-12-24T13:40:00.006-05:00

We wish you all a very, very Merry Christmas!!

Love,
Nat & K

Let Snow, Snow, Snow

2009-12-20T21:53:00.008-05:00

Well the weather man was right this time. When they predicted 15-20in and it said 100% chance they were 100% right.

We went into DC on Friday night to hang out with our friends and decided to stay the night since the snow was coming down so hard and we didn't want to drive in the dark.

Here is DC as we were leaving Saturday morning:

Trying to get out of our parking spot

Thomas Circle

The roads were awful and the snow was coming down really hard. It was a scary drive home at times. I never really think of Maryland as a Southern state as it seems more Northern until it snows and then we just prove that we are actually located below the Mason-Dixon line with the "Winter Wallop 2009" reports, the panic at the grocery stores, and the abandoned cars all over the highway.

On our way home we stopped at Safeway to get some food and below is what the egg aisle looked like. Seriously this is usually filled with eggs and it was completely empty!! I didn't know that you needed eggs to survive a snowstorm.

This is what it looked like out our front door at about 3pm on Saturday

Luckily we had some Crumbs Cupcakes courtesy of my sister in-laws parents!! I have a HUGE love for cupcakes and these do not disappoint, they are AMAZING!!!! We have almost tried every flavor and they are sooooo delicious. I think Caramel Apple is my favorite so far. I'll keep you updated on the other flavors.

Flavors from Left to Right
Top: Caramel Apple, Candy Signature, Red Velvet
Bottom: Chocolate Pecan Pie, Signature Vanilla/Chocolate, Peanut Butter Cup

Here is the snow at about 11pm Saturday night. It's estimated we got about 24in of snow which is a lot for us Marylanders!!

Luckily I did get a 2 hour delay for work tomorrow!! Yay!!

Get to Know Nat: Christmas Edition

2009-12-18T10:58:00.010-05:00

I've seen this on quite a few blogs so I thought I would play along. I love getting to learn more about you all so I thought it would be fun to learn more about me!

Welcome to the Christmas edition of getting to know your blogger friends. Okay, here's what you're supposed to do, and try not to be a SCROOGE!

Just copy this entire post and paste into a new post on your blog and change all the answers so that they apply to you.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags? Wrapping paper!! Ripping open the paper is much more fun

2. Real tree or Artificial? Fake for now maybe a real one when we have kids

3. When do you put up the tree? The Saturday after Thanksgiving

4. When do you take the tree down? Weekend after NYE

5. Do you like eggnog? YES!!!! I LOVE Eggnog ice cream

6. Favorite gift received as a child? My “life-like” doll that was supposed to be just like a “real baby” came with a birth certificate and all. I named her Amanda Tiffany. Don’t judge it was the 80’s

7. Hardest person to buy for? My mother- pickiest person ever, I’m pretty sure she returned almost every gift we’ve ever given her

8. Easiest person to buy for? my sister- my intentions are usually selfish as I plan to use/borrow/steal what ever I’m giving her

9. Do you have a nativity scene? No- but I want this one below and here but I feel it's a bit pricey, maybe find one onsale?

10. Mail or email Christmas cards? Mail- it’s one of my most favorite things about the holidays!

11. Worst Christmas gift you ever received? Hmmmm…I don’t think I have any

12. Favorite Christmas Movie? Love Actually or Elf

source

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas? Let’s see like Dec 12…

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present? Only for a Yankee gift swap

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas? Monkey bread!! Best stuff ever.

source

16. Lights on the tree? White

17. Favorite Christmas song? All I want for Christmas is You version from Love Actually

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home? Home for Christmas Eve/Day then travel up to PA after Christmas

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer? Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and Rudy

20. Angel on the tree top or a star? oops I still need a tree topper

21. Open the presents Christmas Eve or morning? As a kid Christmas day always! Now we usually open then on Christmas Eve at my parents so we can sleep in and enjoy brunch on Christmas day

22. Most annoying thing about this time of the year? PARKING LOTS AT THE MALL!! What is wrong with people??

23. Favorite ornament, theme, or color? My sisters ornament she made in Kindergarten and then kindly gifted to me last year- It’s a British solider made from a clothes pin (I used to make fun of it when we were little and say it looked like her)

24. Favorite for Christmas Dinner? I have no idea what we even eat for dinner, Ham maybe? Not a big dinner fan I prefer dessert

25. What do you want to do for Christmas this year? Spending time with my family and friends and just relaxing and enjoying one another’s company

26. Favorite Christmas tradition growing up? Church on Christmas Eve followed by a party at our family friends house- the party gets more fun the older we get because it’s a great way to catch up with all the people we grew up with

27. Favorite tradition now? same as above Christmas Eve party

Christmas Eve party with my sis and 2 family best friends (and bridesmaids!)

28. Favorite Christmas Memory? I love Christmas every year and I cherish all my memories but I’m also excited to create new memories with K as we get older and have our own family

9 Days!

2009-12-16T22:04:00.003-05:00

Only 9 days until Christmas!! I can't believe it!! As any good procrastinator can relate I am so not done my shopping yet but I am hoping (fingers crossed) I finish before the weekend.

So what have we been up to lately? Well when I'm not busy at work I am enjoying the below....

My new pink Snuggie!!

My wonderful husband stole the Snuggie for me in his Yankee gift swap at his work party. Yes my husband actually stole a pink Snuggie in a group of all men because he knew how much I would LOVE it, isn't he great?? And he was so right. I heart.my.Snuggie. If you don't have one run, don't walk to you local drug store and spend the $15 on one. (try to ignore bad/hair makeup in photo)

We have our Christmas decoration up but we don't have that many this year. I actually have quite a few of the Department 56 Christmas collectable houses but I don't have anywhere to put them this year so unfortunately they are in my parents basement :(

Just in case you're interested in our minimal decor....

Our stockings mine is on the left, K's on the right
(ignore mess on coffee table, thanks!)

Our little fake tree
(it photographs much better than it looks IRL)

Sooo I might have not finished Christmas shopping because I always get distracted with gifts for myself... hehe. Well today I could not resist, the deal was just tooo goood.

See all those pretty colors...

I got all five of those scarves for $20!!! That's $4 a piece!!!!!!! They are usually 3 for $20 at a kiosk in my mall but today was a mega sale so I decided to pick up some fun colors to spruce up my mostly black, white, and gray wardrobe.

Well I am off to bed BFFs... I cannot wait for Friday!

Cookie Monster

2009-12-12T15:58:00.001-05:00

My favorite thing about the holidays is baking cookies!!! As you can probably tell I have a bit of a sweet tooth, just a ~~gigantic~~ tiny one. I have a "signature" cookie which is Ginger Crinkles- I adore them way to much for being food. I discovered the Ginger Crinkle recipe in an old cookbook of my Mom's when I was in 6th grade and I had to make a recipe for class (why, I have no idea??) and they have been my favorite cookie ever since.

Every year when I bake cookies I always make Ginger Crinkles, No-Fail Chocolate Chips Cookies, Sugar, and Oatmeal Raisin. Well this year I honestly didn't have time to make 4 different kinds of cookies and I don't love my Sugar or Oatmeal Raisin recipes so I changed it up a little bit. I got rid of the Sugar cookies and Oatmeal Raisin and I made Mint Chocolate Delights instead. I actually found the recipe on the back of Nestle mint chips but they turned to be delicious (who doesn't love chocolate?!?) and everyone loved them!

So I figured I would share my recipes with all of you!

Ginger Crinkles

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit

Combine sugar, oil and egg beating well at medium speed. Then add molasses beating well.

Combine flour and remaining ingredients in a small bowl, mix and then add to sugar mixture.

Roll into 1 inch balls and drop onto ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until cookies are golden brown. Cool on cookie sheet two minutes then move to wire rack to completely cool

No Fail Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) melted, cooled, butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs, slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups semisweet chocolate morsels

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Combine flour, baking soda and salt in medium bowl; set aside

Beat butter, sugar and brown sugar by hand in a large bowl until combined. Add egg and vanilla; beat until well blended.

Add flour mixture; mix until just combined. Stir in chocolate morsels.

Drop cookie dough by the rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet about 1-1 1/2 inches apart

Bake 12-14 minutes or until edges are crisp but centers are still soft. Let stand 2 minutes on cookie sheet before removing and cooling completely on wire racks

Mint Chocolate Delights

Ingredients:
2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
2/3 cup sugar
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 2/3 cups Nestle dark chocolate and mint morsels (one 10oz package)

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda & salt in small bowl and set aside

Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy.

Add eggs one at a time beating well after each addition
Gradually bit in flour mixture.

Stir in morsels

Drop by well rounded tablespoon on ungreased baking sheet. Bake 11-13 minutes or until cookies are puffed and centers set. Cool on baking sheet 2 minutes then move to wire rack to completely cool

Do you have any holiday cookie recipes?

If you love Jersey Shore...

2009-12-11T11:59:00.002-05:00

Then you must click HERE.

Then you must report back and let me know what your nickname is.
My Jersey shore nickname is:

The Rack.

Nat "The Rack"

It has a nice classy Jersey ring to it.

Happy 25th Birthday Baby Sis

2009-12-10T14:57:00.004-05:00

We interrupt regularly scheduled blogging to say....

My wonderful, kind-hearted, gorgeous, smart, Birkenstock wearing, tree-hugging, maid of honor, best friend forever, and baby sister is turning 25 today!!!

You all might know her better as... Lovely Chaos.

So stop by and wish her a Happy Happy Birthday!!!

Just a few of her greatest moments through the years...

Carlos and Charlies in Mexico

Snorkeling in Cozumel

Celebrating my 25th birthday 2 yrs ago

My Christmas Wish List

2009-12-06T21:25:00.005-05:00

Longchamp Le Pliage Large Tote in New Navy
source

Reebok Easy Tone Tennis Shoes
source

Cabinets above my washer and dryer so I can finally organize my laundry room!
source

And is money were no object...

Acura MDX
source

or

A lovely waterfront home
source

The Holidays are HERE

2009-12-02T20:19:00.009-05:00

We have been busy, busy, busy. As I mentioned in this post (which I swear I wrote just the other day, not a month ago) we are pretty non-stop this time of year. Here are some highlights of what we've been up to.

-We spent our Thanksgiving vacay in PA with K's family. It's always good to see them and catch up because we don't see them as often as we should. Thanksgiving at their house could feed a small army there are 2 types of turkey, 2 types of ham, 3 types of stuffing, waldorf salad, green been casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, and I won't bore you with the rest. Moving on.

Did I ever tell you all that I hate Thanksgiving food?? Yes it is true. I know I've probably lost all my readers at this point BUT I have good reasoning, bear with me. I make a plate of food for show. While the rest of the group is being gluttonous over their baked turkey, fried turkey, pineapple stuffing, regular stuffing, or green bean casserole I am pushing turkey, stuffing, and mashed potatoes around to make it look like I ate at least a little bit of it.

Well are you ready for it...

You all clearly didn't see the DESSERT TABLE. It was screaming my name the minute I stepped into the dining room and I knew I couldn't neglect it. It was like "Nat! Look! Do you see all this deliciousness? Do not eat that turkey, drop the plate now!"

So needless to say I was gluttonous myself . Very gluttonous. I ate apple pie, pumpkin cheesecake, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate covered pretzels, apple cider donuts, a gingerbread cupcake, and 7-up cake.
I'm not even joking. Yes I consumed at least one piece of each of those dessert. Let me tell you it was AMAZING. Thanksgiving dinner is so overrated. It's the dessert that does it for me.

-Work has been crazy lately. It's been busy and we are still short staffed. I'm currently working at 2 locations and feel like I'm losing my mind sometimes. On the days when I want to rip my hair out and just tell everyone to screw it I constantly remind myself, You are lucky to have a job, You are lucky to have a job. That and diet coke keep me going.

-Tomorrow night I am having my family over to celebrate my parent's 30th wedding anniversary and my grandmothers birthday. I'm very excited because my grandmother hasn't seen my house since before me moved in over a year ago! I baked cupcakes and cake tonight and tomorrow me, K, my sis, and her boyfriend will be whipping up a delicious dinner.

I just have one question for you all how in the H-E- double hocky sticks do you icing a cake??? I cannot doing it without getting little crumbs in my icing so instead of vanilla it's vanilla icing with chocolate cake specks. I even got one of those big fancy icing knife things that I registered for and that didn't help so I'm screwed.

- Saturday night is K's boss' holiday party that we attend every year. I have no idea what I'm going to wear this year!?! I want to look good because there is potential I might be mingling with some of the Real housewives of D.C. ...

-I have to dedicate a whole post to season finale of The Hills and The City and what I fear to be my newest guilty pleasure: Jersey Shore. MTV how do you do it??? You're shows are like bad train wrecks they are so awful but for some reason I just keep watching.

Despite how busy we've been we did manage to get our tree up and decorated (its fake) and I managed to get out my Christmas decorations (which are very minimal) and I bought some poinsettias to help brighten up our space.
Oh and I downloaded about bunch of Christmas music, you must download Michael Buble he does the best rendition of Let it Snow. I love it!

It is officially way past my bedtime, good night!

Last Christmas

2009-11-24T21:17:00.006-05:00

Not Mine.

Wham's.

I have officially been listening to Christmas music for 2 days on the radio and I have already heard Wham's Last Christmas 3 times. You're guaranteed to hear this song in every store in the Mall. Don't get me wrong, I love me some George Michael but it is probably also my least favorite Christmas song as it is WAY overplayed. I prefer Mariah Carey All I want for Christmas is You.

So this year I am starting an official tally to see how many times I hear this song between now and the 25th of December.

Anyone else want to play?

I realized we are majorly lacking holiday music in Casa H so I will be downloading some this weekend when I return. What is my favorite Christmas CD?

I love and always will love Amy Grant's Home for Christmas.

(source)

I believe it came out in the early 1990's and we were HUGE Amy Grant fans around our house (I made a music video of Baby, Baby in 3rd grade for music class- so cool I know) and it makes me think of my childhood and all our wonderful holiday memories.

So bffs what is your favorite holiday CD?

What's your favorite Christmas/holiday song?

I love me some Amy Grant but I still think Mariah takes the cake with my most favorite song.

The Boss

2009-11-20T16:18:00.003-05:00

Tonight I am taking my husband to see Bruce Springsteen for his birthday with my sis and boyfriend!!
Apparently we are seeing the Born to Run Show. Be Jealous.
It's going to be better than New Moon. (hehe)