The {Bestie's} Birthday!

Celebration & Relaxation!

So this weekend marked my {youngest} best friend's 25th birthday. So we decided to start celebrating early. Enjoy some pictures and a short description of our two weekend adventure.....

 Me and James are both similar in the way that we are happy with little things in life - like going for a long, pointless, endless drive, blasting and singing at the top of our longs to Nicki Minaj makes us happy!! Work hard - play harder. Just like me, James' works fulltime and goes to school three days a week. So by the time Friday comes we just wanna wind down and set our mind at ease. Luckily for me, my husband grew up with James so the adores him and doesn't mind me getting away for the weekend. So last Saturday we decided to go on a "daycation". We rented a room at Andover's La Quinta Inn & Suites. For those not from the area, Andover is a classier, nicer, part of where I come from in Massachusetts - so of course we automatically just assumed the hotel would reflect that. Ahhhh.... no!

We show up and it is like a mexican resort. No offense to Mexico. But everything was mexican, or spanish. The people, the writing on the walls, the signs, the food, the sheets!  Not to mention for dinner, all we had to do was walk through the parking lot to Chili's!! It was only James and I so we got to enjoy a nice, big, room with two queen size beds. We stayed up late, and slept even later. Check out (abnormally) wasn't until noon so that was awesome. 

We wanted to hit up the jacuzzi and pool, but every time we checked there were like 400 little booger children, probably pissing away, so we ditched and just watched t.v. instead. It was kind of a waste of money, but whatever, we had fun.

Then, this weekend I wanted to do something nice for James. Since he's always going out of his way for me. While contemplating renting another hotel, lucky for me, my aunt Eileen works at Rockport Inn & Suites (in Rockport, Ma - one of the most beautiful coastal places on the planet) so we got an A-M-A-Z-I-N-G deal that I just couldnt resist. I invited our friend Molly along with her boyfriend Kevin too.

My family grew up in Rockport and I've spent a few good amount of past times there so I was happy to drive (James' brand new car) and give them a little scenic tour before checking in. We also had dinner (wish I had a picture) at this cute little roastbeef/sub shop that was set up in a little old diner. Pretty much nothing else was open. Being that it's right on the coast, a lot of places there are only open during the summer, or earlier in the day. 

Once we got to the hotel - it was GORGEOUS. It wasnt your typical hotel. It was very cute and cozy. We got right into our bathing suites and jumped in the jacuzzi. We probably sat in there for about a half hour before treading water in the pool for an hour. Then back into the jacuzzi. It felt sooooo good. Then we just hung out in the room all night, watching The Bodyguard and drinking Mr. Mike's black cherry and having some strawberry daquiries. 

{One thing I must admit - the whole entire weekend I did not count calories. And that is when I pretty much told myself that I am out of control. When I am out in public, or amidst the company of other people, I just cannot resist slipping into my old ways. For dinner I had a steak bomb and fries with a soda. And I sucked down that alcohol like no tomorrow until I fell asleep. I am actually pretty ashamed of myself. And as soon as I am done with this entry I am going to log onto Myfitness Pal to count up!}

Anyways -  we had an amazing weekend and until our next adventure in a couple weeks to Foxwoods Resort & Casino - I just wanted to document this and share my photos with the world....

{ Again, Happy 25th Birthday James!! }

Food and Fun!

Food and fun shared with you by pictures!

So since my dreadful last post about being miserable, I have managed to get out of the house and hang out with some pretty awesome friends of mine, while taking pictures to share with the world. So breifly, here they are.....

One night - I decided to take it upon myself to ask a bunch of friends to hangout at my other friend's house - where she has a fire most nights, along with some physically fun activities like bat mitten and volleyball. She also usually has a stocked fridge of coronas and twisted teas too! Although you can't tell in my pictures because I only took a few - all of my friends (besides one) have children. So while all us girls & (about ten of us) and James sat around the camp fire, talking shit, and reminiscing about crazy old times... we also had about ten kids (and two dogs) running around the yard like a bunch of hellians. Mind you, bat mitten is my all time favorite game to play, but as soon as the ADULTS want to play, along come the kids to take it over. We couldnt play for more than five minutes without a child running off with the "birdie." Anyways - it was a great night to catch up with friends and have a few drinks and two smores!

Another day, one of my besties {Lauren} invited me to a SUMMER BASH. Probably the b-e-s-t one that I have been to, maybe ever. Lauren and Michelle picked me up in the [cadillac escalade] packed with four adults and five kids!! We drove about 40 minutes away on a hot summer day and arrived at Dave's house. It was awesome. There was a live band, portable potties, four grills with a shit load of food, a humongous blow up slide, and games like sack in the hole, beer pong, and delicious jello shots!



While in the midst of people watching, enjoying the music, and having a BLAST... my friends (lauren, michelle and lisa lips) got WASTED. Which was fine, they told me early on that I was the "designated driver" which was okay because afterall, I didn't come prepared so had no liquor of my own, and cant stand the dreadful taste of beer. So I sucked down a few jellow shots just to relax and filled up on fruit. There was literally over fifty people there, all strangers, but we had a great time, it was a great party. When we were ready to leave I was worried about driving because the cadillac is HUGE, I am really bad at directions when it comes to highways, and all my friends were drunk! We packed the kids back in the truck and took off. I took the advice of a drunken friend and got us on the wrong highway initially, and once we got back on track I had to get off at the nearest exit because boligerant people might piss themselves! Overall, it took us about an hour to get home that night but it was well worth the craziness :)

Then lastnight was Yankee Homecoming a few towns away. It's a tradition in the town of Newburyport, Ma. where every summer in the center of town they have a ton of food vendors, leisure activites, performers, a live band, boat parade, and fireworks. Although me and the boys didn't make it till about 8pm, we got a great seat right on the boardwalk where we got to feel the ocean breeze and see the fireworks. It was also great to people watch!

Now... here it is, the last day of my "vacation" and I am watching Coraline on dvd, listening to the puppies and my husband snore beside me. It is a groggy, muggy, rainy, day and I'd much rather fold laundry and re-organize my closet than go outside in this weather. Though, I am eager to get back to work tomorrow to see my awesome co-workers and weigh in on Wednesday.

Speaking of weightloss. We did grocery shopping yesterday and for the first time in my life I skipped out on a bag of potatoes. I am a potatoe queen and it was literally like giving up heroin. I stood beside the bag of potatoes for five minutes wondering if I could go without, almost sweating with anxiety, and then in the freezer aisle (where I normally skip) I came across an already chopped bag of potatoes and I had to open and close the freezer door three times before walking away. I cook potatoes in many forms during the week - I like to cut up baby reds and throw them in the skillet with all sorts of things, mostly various veggies. In my house, we are not junk food junkies. Growing up my mother always bought snacks; ding dongs, funny bones, cookies, and ice cream. In my house we pleasure more on chips and dip and pudding. Other than that, I cannot remember the last time we had a package of cookies or ring dings in the cabinet. My guilty pleasure is CARBOHYDRATES! I love bread, I love chips, and I love potatoes! Yesterday I replaced chips with a bag of grapes, and I replaced potatoes with more fresh vegetables. I've also been struggling with finding something healthy and quenching to drink. While I have finally gone 100% at drinking water all day at work, I just cannot do it at home. I was filling up on gatorade but I am sick of it, and v8 is becoming dreadful too. So yesterday I got myself a bottle of Sprite Zero. Figured I could have a glass with my sandwiches or as a "dessert" to myself when I am craving soda. I gave up soda a few months ago cold turkey. Went from 2-3 bottles in the house a week to NONE! Also, SPINACH HAS BECOME MY FAVORITE FOOD ACCESSORY lately. It is absolutely delicious in grilled cheese and on every cold cut sandwich ever! However, it does go bad very quickly if you do not store it properly, which I havent figured out yet....

Anyways - I have to pee and pretty soon I am going to take a shower and go over to my mom's house. I decided that I need a hair cut. Quite honestly, I am very careless with my hair. I would let a homeless man on the sidewalk cut my hair if he wanted to. My hair is just so thick and grows so fast that I don't even care who messes it up, and right now Im at the point where it is even getting too heavy for a pony tail so I need a change! Pictures later in the week..... toodles :)

Theme Park Fun!

So this past Sunday I was given the chance to go to Canobie Lake Park with a friend & her family. Her nephew (whose father is actually a race car driver ) won 5 free tickets to the theme park and I got to use one of them. I love this place so I was psyched.  There were 4 of us adults (who acted like children all day) and 6 kids who have no fear!

We got there around 4 pm and had 6 hours to spare. After a few rollarcoasters and thrill rides I realized how fearless I was a child and teenager. I used to be in love with dangerous, high up in the sky rides, moving 100mph. Instead, I was holding on for dear life, with my eyes closed, praying to God that my seat didn't fly off the hinges and send me plummiting through the air hitting the ground. I was terrified. Yet I went from one ride to another! And every ride was the same, I prayed for my life!

Here are a few pictures I took earlier in the day before stashing away my phone from the water rides....

This is me at home, in my bathroom, getting ready for the day.

The last few days here in Massachusetts have been literally 100 degrees.

It's been hot and humid but luckily it was only in the 80s.

I went for the layered tanktop look and a pair of capris with some pink flip flops.

And ofcourse I painted my nails and thew in a hand-made headband :)

This is my best friend Lauren's 5 year old daughter Keyanah

and her 3 year old neice Miyah on the kiddie swings.

 A few pictures of some kiddie rides that I took.

I loved the kiddie Canoies, I thought they were adorable!

And a great place to cool the kids down under the trees and in the shade.

Canobie Lake park is beside a larger lake in New Hampshire.

Besides the hundreds of rides they have, they also offer a boat ride-

and a small train ride that takes you around the theme park aside the waterfront.

Here's the theme park's map - I thought it was cool and wanted to show you.

Needless to say I had a blast. I was very greatful that I got to go. I only brought $20 with me in cash, so I did get a few things I probably shouldn't have. I had a dish of Banana Split Dip-N-Dots, a pretzel, some watermelon slush, and right before I left I spent my last $5 on a box of hand-cut french fries. And they were delicious! But such a guilty pleasure and made me feel kind of crappy afterwards. Luckily I am two days in from that fun filled day and sticking to my healthy food plan! Let's see how I do.....

BFFs, Birthdays, Chinese, and Kareoke!

So it was a double birthday dinner date at the end of the week, celebrating Lauren & Michelle's life. Lauren is my best friend, and Michelle is her's! A bunch of us decided to head over to Oriental Garden's; a local chinese resteraunt with a bar and kareoke. It was Thursday night, the crowd was pretty dead, and one my other bestie's was our waitress.

First of all, I got out of work at 5 and it took me over an hour to get home (normally 20 min tops) because there was an accident on the highway. When I got home I hurried to freshen my make up and pick out something to wear. Being another 3 lbs down I was feeling pretty hot. I don't know if I look any different, but I definately feel different. I pulled out this thick black belt that I've had for probably five years and only wore one other time, to a wedding. I clinched it around my waste and headed out the door. By the way, I was starving because I didn't have time for dinner yet........

You know how hard it is to not feast on chinese when you're on a diet {and starving!?} A corona and two blue hawaiians later, and everyone is ordering food. I really wanted a #21 which had chicken fingers, steak teriyake, boneless spare ribs, and pork fried rice. I refrained for as long as I could stand.... which was the whole night. Yay! Go me! Although I did eat one crab rangoon off someone else's plate! Then.... when the cake came out, I even said no and skipped a piece of that and just delicated on two chocolate covered strawberries. I was actually very, very, very, proud of myself for keeping in check. Did I mention our friend Tricia made the cake and surprised Lauren with it? It looked gorgeous {and delicious} she did a great job!

Overall, we all had a great time, great drinks, and shared some great laughs. Old time stories (most of us have been friends nearly 20 years) and mentioned our 10 year high school reunion coming up in a couple months. It was good to get out of the house and see the girls.

Destination: Nowhere. With Friends.

Some of the best memories I have with friends are times when we've just got in the car with no destination and ended up on a wild adventure! My best friend James is infamous for spontaneous, non-planned trips. And my other friend Ryan, is usually the one who brings us there. This was Ryan's first four day "mini vacation" in a long time, so we couldn't let it go wasted. Although I tried to bribe James into attending PRIDE (gay pride parade and celebration) he told me, "i dont stand for what "gay" is and has become. Thousands of gay people are flooding into Boston to find someone to take home. Thats it.. I'd rather stay home or DIE. Thank you!"  For those of you who were quick to be offended by that statement, James himself, is GAY! And so is Ryan! So clearly, I thought gay pride day would be fun, apparently not....

Instead the boys came and picked me up and we decided; Destination: Nowhere.

We drove to Reading, Ma which is further out towards Boston. We decided to go to the I-Max theater at Jordan's Furniture to see the movie SUPER 8. Ofcourse the whole car ride consists of (seatbelts choking me and suffocating my breasts) jamming out the radio and singing at the top of our lungs, and making a few wrong turns because the GPS/Navigation lady is a few seconds delayed, lol.

Here is the movie trailer for SUPER 8 - which was an incredible movie!!

Before the movie though, James was just staaarved, so hungry that he probably believed that if he didnt eat soon he would die. Luckily, Fuddrucker's is located in the same building, so we stopped there. It was delicious. You stand in line, order your burger, have a seat, when your number is called go up and grab your stuff and like buffet style you put the pickles, lettuce, etc on. The burgers are huge. And the fries were delicious. They were crispy on the outside and mooshy on the inside, just the way I like them :)

It was funny because there were alot of mirrors in the resteraunt. Ryan kept getting illusionized. After a few minutes after looking into mirror after mirror around us, he started to not know what was "real life" anymore.

Besides walking through a humongous furniture store  before hitting the I-Max theater (which seats 500 people and when we bought the tickets 348 were sold already) there is a light show, which I am bummed I didnt get pictures of, and a trapeeze show, where you can pay money and do yourself with the pro's ofcourse. As well as a few other little candy shops and ice cream stops.

The picture below, everything is made out of jelly beans!!!!

(James and Ryan on the left and me with the boys on the Right)

After the movie it was about 6 p.m., we were about a half an hour away from home, in a far away land we had never been to. We asked Mrs. GPS where the nearest Friendly's was, because ofcourse, our adventure was about to come to an end, and we refused. So.... we drove into Stoneham, Ma. Acting a fool and came upon this tiny little Friendly's that looked like it had once been a fire station. The line was out the door and we sarcasticly joked with a few people waiting, then took off embaressed (I am infamous for saying horrible things infront of other people to embaress my friends haha.) We ended up in Lawrence, a ghetto city near our home town, where we sat down in their local Friendly's. Although, it should have been called "Bitchies" because absolutely EVERY waitress in that place was a douche. We joked to ourselves, and a little outloud about how horrid the girls in there were acting, and ofcourse ordered ourselves an icecream, a fribble, ate, laughed, then took off.

( James and I sharing a strawberry fribble <3 )

We barely wanted the night to end, but with nothing else to do, and Ryan having a bad stomach ache from eating his burger "rare" we all decided to go home. Ofcourse, tomorrow is Sunday, and the third out of fourth day off that he has, and once again I am sure we will find something else to do....... until then.... muah!