Unplugged

I’m so happy that I got to spend an entire week with my family at the beach in Emerald Isle, North Carolina.

Isn’t my little God Son, Beau, a cutie!?

I spend the majority of the week completely unplugged from the internet.  Sometimes it feels so good to do that (although I did miss reading blogs and I’m excited to get caught up with everyone!)

I didn’t blog on vacation because I wanted to fully relax and enjoy being with my family.  Being on the computer was not on my “to do list”.

I also didn’t blog daily because I literally did the same things day after day.  Those things included:

• Running on the beach
• Drinking on the beach
• Napping on the beach
• Eating on the beach
• Eating at the house
• Eating out at restaurants

You get the idea 😉

Do you notice a theme in the above pictures? 😉 I promise we did drink some water during the day too!

Some people love to have very active vacations and explore their destination.  I’m someone who loves to relax and sit on the beach. Call me crazy, but I love doing nothing! I can spend hours on the beach. 

Exercising on Vacation

Because I really do sit on my butt all day, I do enjoy getting out early and going for beach runs. This past week I split my workout up by running half of the time on the road and the other half on the beach covering right around 3.5 miles.

During the first half of my run I took in the sights of all the beautiful beach houses:

Then I ran up the public beach access board walk to get to the beach:

The last half of the run is along the water on the “harder” sand:

I love being right next to the ocean!

Can’t beat this view! I tackled 6 beach runs during my stay in Emerald Isle, NC (which took about 40 minutes each morning) and enjoyed every one of them.  I swear my body loves being by the water!

Post Vacation Blues

As my plane touched down in Cleveland yesterday I felt the “post vacation blues” setting in.  Luckily I had Andy and the pups to greet me and that cheered me up! I missed my little family while I was away! I told Andy that next year we both need to plan a week long vacation together.  This summer we’ve both had different activities going on and used our vacation hours for all sorts of things like weddings and camping trips. However we’re both heading to San Diego next weekend for a friend’s wedding. Neither of us have been there so I’m excited to see a new place!

I hope you all had a great weekend!

Question:

Do you prefer vacations where there are lots of activities (such as sight seeing and exploring) or vacations that are spent lying on the beach relaxing?

Congrats K and K!

This weekend Andy and I headed to Cincinnati for my good friend Kelly’s wedding. 

 

Kelly and her new husband Keith had a beautiful ceremony and reception Friday night at the Embassy Suites on the river. I loved that Kelly and Keith’s wedding was held at the Embassy Suites.  The location was beautiful, as it overlooked dowtown, and it was also convenient that the ceremony, reception and hotel were the same venue.  It made it especially nice for out of town guests!

 

Kelly and Keith

The evening started with the wedding ceremony outside overlooking the river and downtown Cincinnati:

Kelly look absolutely beautiful walking down the aisle with her dad. 

I was overwhelmed with all sorts of feelings as this is a friend I have known since the 7th grade.  We’ve been through so much together.  I still can’t believe my friend is married now! It’s hard to believe the days of making up dances in the living room of our parent’s houses are long gone and we are all grown up. 

The ceremony was short, yet incredibly sweet and heartfelt.  Kelly’s older sister, Holly, served as Maid of Honor and her two adorable daughters served as flower girls:

After the ceremony we went inside for the reception.  The room was beauitful, filled with green decorations, the color Kelly chose for her wedding and the bridesmaid’s dresses:

Dinner and Drinks

Dinner was delicious and there was a choice between chicken and steak.  I chose the chicken which had a marsala sauce.  It was served with mashed potatoes and veggies.  Along with our main course we also had salad and rolls.  Everything was great!

The open bar was in full force and our table was sat right next to it.  I’m positive Kelly did that on purpose.  She knows her friends so well 😉

We spent the evening eating, dancing, and taking pictures in the photo booth.  I’ve seen these photo booths at a few weddings now and I think they are such a great idea! Plus they are hilarious once everyone’s had some drinks…the pictures get a bit more creative!

I think the dancing was the highlight of the evening.  We were non-stop!

I was happy that I got to spend the evening with some of my best girlfriends.  Some of us have been friends for nearly two decades…crazy!!

The wedding was so much fun and I was so thrilled to be a part of Kelly and Keith’s big day! Congrats K and K!

Saturday

On Saturday morning Andy and I enjoyed the complimentary breakfast at the hotel with Kelly and some other guests who spent the night.  The breakfast was awesome as it was cooked-to-order…not just continental.  After a night of drinking and dancing I wanted something a little greasy and filling.  I opted for a veggie omelet, some home fries and half a bagel.  It hit the spot! 

We hit the road and headed back to Cleveland by late morning.  Usually I stay longer in Cincinnati as my parents and brother live there but they are all at the beach in Emerald Isle, North Carolina! Luckily I’ll be joining them next weekend for a week long vacation.  Can’t wait!

I was exhausted from the 4 hour ride and spent the rest of Saturday napping and hanging out at home with Andy.  We decided on Chipotle for dinner as neither of us wanted to cook or go out.  Take out it was! 

Today I am planning on grocery shopping at Trader Joes and doing some cleaning around the house. I hope you are having a great weekend!

Question:

Do you have any weddings to attend this summer? I have three! Bring on the celebrations!

Cookout and a Crazy Dog Park

After having an already fun and crazy holiday weekend, it was then topped off with a cookout at Andy’s parent’s house.

Andy and I

There was so much food! We munched on grilled chicken (with different sauces to dip in), hot dogs, potato salad, pasta salad, chips and salsa, deviled eggs, and watermelon.  To drink we had an assortment of beer and wine as well as iced tea, water and soda.

My favorite was the potato salad as well as the homemade salsas that Andy’s sister-in-law, Lindsay, made.

I think I ate my weight in the chips n’ salsa!

Homemade salsas

I filled my plate with a bit of everything:

We brought our dogs, Boo and Sophia, over for the day.  Andy’s parents have three dogs and Andy’s brother Joe and his wife, Lindsay, have one.  It was a like a crazy dog park!

The dogs literally played non-stop for 5 hours.  Boo is really fast (and knows it…he’s not very modest!) so he enjoyed running at full speed being chased by the others:

Just try and catch me Sammy and Buddy!

Baby Claire (Andy’s niece and God daughter) was also enjoying the 4th of July cookout and dressed the part:

Boo made sure to tell Claire that he loved her outfit:

Isn’t Claire so cute?! I just love her!

Claire with mom and dad:

The adorable family!

Besides eating (which we did a lot of!), we played games of Bocce Ball as we enjoyed the perfect, sunny weather.   Then we went back to eating when Andy’s mom brought out this beautiful and festive dessert:

This deliciousness was filled with berries, whipped cream and angel food cake.  It was awesome!

Boo and Sophia said their favorite was the watermelon:

We love watermelon!

When Sophia wasn’t munching on watermelon or eating the millions of treats that were given to her, she was doing what she does best: Looking cute and begging for more food!

Please, I have not had anything to eat in days....

If Sophia wasn’t bad enough, she invited her partner in crime, Bernie, to help beg:

Begging partner!

What little goobers! (But I love them of course 🙂 )

I have to say that this weekend was filled with so much fun, friends, family, and food.  What more could you ask for?

I had a great time celebrating and being with loved ones, even when this guy won’t smile for any of the pictures I take:

Take 1

Take 2

Take 3: Eyes are closed, but I'll take it!

Now it’s time for me to get my booty to work.  I only have a three-day week since I am taking Friday off for a wedding in Cincinnati. More celebrations to come! Have a great day everyone! 

Question of the Day:

I’m in need of book suggestions for my upcoming vacation to North Carolina.  Do you have any book recommendations?

My Holiday Weekend

I hope you all are enjoying your Monday! Here’s what I’ve been up to on this glorious three day holiday weekend:

A night out with the girls on Friday:

Enjoying one to many of these…

And these…

Vodka + Water + Lime

Unpictured went the hours I spent recovering on Saturday and eating on the couch watching TV.  This is what happens when you drink as if you are in college again!

Sunday night I spent a night out with Andy in downtown Cleveland at Shooters on the Water:

We spent time watching a crazy 80s band perform:

"Whip it...Whip it good!"

I loved their outfits…

"I wish that I had Jessie's girl!"

I spotted a random guy all dolled up in a white suit…interesting choice of outfit, I wish I would have gotten the memo 😉 He reminded me of a cruise director!

We spent the evening eating, drinking Bud Light Limes and enjoying the water front views as the sun was setting:

It was a beautiful night in Cleveland!

Some of Andy’s buddies also joined us for a night out:

Something that went unpictured was our midnight run to Taco Bell.  Yes, we sometimes revert back to our 21-year old selves and have 4th meal.  It tasted soo good too 🙂

This morning I spent time with Boo and Sophia on a nice run through the neighborhood. 

Running Buddies

I wish I would have had a camera because we saw tons of animals.  I saw a raccoon (which looked kinda scary and crazy!), about 5 cats, a million bunnies and squirrels, and an owl which really creeped me out.  Just another day in Cleveland I guess!

Hello there!

Source

I covered 2 miles with Boo and Sophia then went out for a mile by myself.

I felt surprisingly good considering I ate 10lbs of Taco Bell a midnight!

Sophia and Boo took some time to cool off on the patio:

Today’s Plans

In about an hour Andy and I (plus the dogs) are heading over to Andy’s parents for a cookout to celebrate the 4th of July.  I hope you all are enjoying your weekend!

Question:

What is your favorite food to eat at cookouts? I love deviled eggs and potato salad!

A Day for Celebration

**Catching up from the weekend? Friday I did the Pick 6 Challenge and discussed my membership in the Clean Plate Club and Saturday I spent the night in with Andy grilling out and making martinis!**

A Day for Celebration

Today we celebrated not only Father’s Day, but baby Claire’s Baptism.  Claire is Andy’s niece and now her God Father. It was a special day filled with lots of family, fun and of course good food!

Andy

First we started out by hustling around the house getting ready to leave on time.  Pretty much the usual activity when there’s something important to go to! 😉

Ready to go!

It was really hot out today, so I wore a light and airy dress that I recently bought at TJ Maxx.

It was a good choice because as soon as I stepped outside I was sweating like crazy.

The Church

Andy’s brother Joe and his wife Lindsay invited lots of family and friends to spend this special day with them.

Lindsay, Joe and baby Claire

Claire seemed excited about everything going on around her.  Her pretty eyes seemed to be looking all over the place, taking it all in!

Claire

Then it was time to get the show on the road! Claire didn’t seem to mind the water.

Baptism

She did a great job! She’s really such a great baby, always happy and smiling.

Me with Andy's Family

We took tons of pictures at the church then headed back to Lindsay and Joe’s place for lunch.

Cheese and Crackers

We started with lots of appetizers including cheese and crackers, pepperoni rolls, and my personal favorite: Buffalo Chicken Dip! I filled my plate at least 5 times with this stuff!

Buffalo Chicken Dip

After some appetizers we feasted on pasta, meatballs, salad, bread with butter, fruit, and plenty of desserts.

Watermelon

I ate like an athlete today, taking breaks throughout the day to rest and refuel then went back for seconds, thirds, and so on…

It’s such a talent, I know 😉

Pasta

The pasta, bread and salad were all tasty…

Feasting

But I was saving room to get my fill of the dessert table!

Dessert time!

So many delicious desserts to try so I had a bit of everything…and snagged a few extra brownies throughout the day.

Dessert Table

I also had a slice of the pretty Baptism cake, which had a strawberry filling:

Claire's Cake

The guys played Corn Hole for the afternoon while us gals’ played with Claire and had girl talk and ate tons of food in the kitchen 🙂

Corn Hole

It was a nice day and I was happy to be a part of Claire’s Baptism!

Father’s Day

Unfortunately I could not be with my own dad today, as I don’t live close by.  He was actually in Philadelphia (where I am originally from) visiting family so he got to be with his dad today, which was nice.

Dad and Mom

Although I did speak with him and sent him a gift, I still wish I could spend the day with him.  Luckily I’ll be seeing him soon for another trip to North Carolina  for a week in July.  I love you dad! You’re the best and thank you for all that you do.

Happy Father’s Day to you and all the dads out there!

Party Weekend Recap!

This weekend was full of family, fun and parties! Let’s recap, shall we?

I spent my time in Cincinnati for a visit with friends and family.  I drove down on Thursday after I hosted a Rewards Luncheon for the weight management program I am in charge of at work.

Rewards Luncheon

Speaking to the crowd and announcing top winners

I spent the rest of Thursday hanging out at home with my parents and my brother.

Friday was my friend Kelly’s Bachelorette Party! Before I partied the night away, I did manage to get in a 3-mile run outside.  It felt great and it was a nice change from running with two dogs on leashes!

I headed to Kelly’s apartment early with my other friend Kelly to help set up for the night.  Kelly (the bachelorette) was also going to do our hair (she’s a hair dresser).  It was some seriously fun girl time!! We chatted, gossiped like only girls do, and sipped on some cocktails.  I opted for a Skinny Girl margarita since I’ve been obsessed with them lately!

Kelly (the bachelorette), me and Kelly

Kelly is one of my good friends who I’ve known since we were in 7th grade.  Along with Kelly, there are 7 other girls (including me) who comprise our high school group of close-knit friends.  We all try to get together a few times a year, but it’s difficult.  I think it had been a couple of years since all 8 of us had been together until the Bachelorette Party.  So Friday was a special night!

All 8 of us!

The night started at Kelly’s apartment where her sister and other members of her bridal party put together a great spread of appetizers and drinks. 

Food and Drinks...do you see the straws and napkins? 😉

Kickin' it old school with pizza rolls!

There was even a watermelon soaking with booze.  We consumed this throughout the night…at least I got some fruit in me, right?!

Fruit n' booze

As we ate and chatted, Kelly opened up gifts.  We each brought lingerie and Kelly had to guess who each gift was from.

Kelly

Many jello shots were consumed before the festivities even kicked off…let’s just say, it was a fun night!

Jello Shots

I actually don’t really like jello, but fill it with booze and I’ll eat it! 🙂

J-E-L-L-O!

And MORE Jello shots!

For the remainder of the night we took a Party Bus around downtown Cincinnati.  I loved the party bus and had such a fun time singing and dancing to songs that came on the radio.  Plus, you can drink on the bus which was also a lot of fun.  We had more jello shots, boozed-up watermelon, beer, and champagne.

On the Party Bus

Dancing on the Bus

Our first stop was at a karaoke bar.  Most of us got up to sing (I’m thinking we all had plenty of liquid courage!)  Kelly and I sang “Pseudio” by Phil Collins.  I don’t know why we chose that, but we did and I’m sure it sounded just lovely 😉

At the bar

After singing our hearts out, we went on to another bar and continued our celebration through Cincinnati.  The bus took us home around 2:30AM where we munched on leftover appetizers.  It was such a fun night!  I’m sad that it’s over, but I am looking forward to Kelly’s wedding in July.

The rest of the weekend was spent recovering (I slept pretty much all day Saturday!), celebrating a late Mother’s Day with  my family, and just spending time with everyone that I don’t get to see on a daily basis.  I miss my family and friends in Cincinnati so much!

I came home late Sunday night to my very excited pups and a very excited boyfriend.  I missed my little family while I was gone!  Andy had a hot pizza waiting for dinner and it hit the spot after my 4 hour rainy drive.

Now it’s back to reality! I hope you all had a great weekend!

Question:

If you drink alcohol, what is your drink of choice? I love a good martini and typically something that tastes sweet, like a cosmo or Key Lime martini!

A Lovely Weekend

Here is what I did this past weekend:

Pizza Friday

I had pizza from Papa Johns on Friday night after work. I also had some cheesy bread.  Andy was out of town for the night, so it was a pizza party for one! And I’m totally cool with that. I got to catch up on all my trashy reality TV 😉

Veggie Pizza just fo' me

Running with Boo and Sophia on Saturday and Sunday morning.  I’m loving that spring is finally here! We did 2 miles on each day.  Running with my pups makes me exhausted and I had to take naps on both days!

Running Buddies!

Delicious Breakfast Post-Run

2 eggs, an orange, an english muffin with butter, and coffee with half and half

Breakfast

Shopping!

Let the fashion show begin! This is my weekend look 🙂

Hello World!

I bought 4 dresses at TJ Maxx, all under $40.00!  Actually, three were under $25.00 and one was $40.00.  I seriously love this store!

Long dress by Nine West

Floral and Fun

Gray with Lace

Little Black Dress

It was a successful shopping trip to ol’ TJ Maxx.  They had great stuff!

Hot Date

I had a hot date night with this guy on Saturday night…

Andy

We went to a new place called Bottega Bistro. It’s a trendy bar and restaurant that specializes in brick oven pizzas (I can’t ever get enough pizza!).  We split a pizza that had garlic, smoked gouda cheese, and portobello mushrooms and we each had a caesar salad (which stole the show! It was delicious).  I also had two martinis.  I was feelin’ good!

A Simple Recipe

I took some time to cook and I made this easy and delicious dish:

Apple Chicken Sausage with Roasted Carrots,Potatoes and Onions

Simple and Delicious

Simply toss all ingredients in a pan with olive oil, a bit of water (about a cop or so to help cook the veggies), and seasonings.  Roast for about an hour or until veggies are tender at 375 degrees.

The weekend was just lovely!

Question:

What is something fun you did this weekend?