My Husband's Birthday!

Customized Cake <3

Today is dedicated to my husband. We have been together ten years this August and have shared many birthdays, holidays, and of course memories together. We also have a lot of tattoos between the two of us. Most that we got together. We both have matching stars behind our ears - 3 stars on each side, we got them during our 6th anniversary. We both have a heart, locket, & skeleton key (to each other's hearts) with our names. So this cake that I had made for him was based off his tattoos. So it is really special to the both of us. Not to mention - the cross & wings on the top, diamond, and grenade. All of those things are incorporated because of something he loves and fits his personality perfectly! Thank you Tricia :)

 

"The man I love is not the man everyone else sees. The man I love is the man that only I know. The man I love shares with me all that he holds inside- his hopes and dreams for the future, his memories, and experiences from the past. All the things that make him who he is today. The man I love is the man whos most himself when we're together. Hes the only man who truly knows and loves the real me. He is my partner, my friend, my everything"

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BOO!

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 :)

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.

4th of July Recap.

Happy 4th of July on the 5th of July. And yay to me, who enjoyed a mini 5 day vacay. Most of which I spent at home with the husband and dogs. Cleaning, staying up late, waking up even later, and just lounging around. It was lovely. My hubby who normally works close to 60 hours a week also had three days off with me, so we got to spend some quality time together. Which rarely happens. Although I'm not as much as a home body as him, so I took up every oppurtunity to hang with friends, family, and hit up cook outs.

Friday morning I spent time with family shopping - which is shared on my blog a few posts ago. As well as my shopping experience yesterday where I found a cute cheetah top and some dollhouse sandals.

What I haven't told you yet is that on Saturday, me and some of my bff's (James and Derek who are Room-mates, Molly who lives downstairs, and Ryan who is one of our other besties) decided to throw a 4th of July barbecue {what we call p-a-r-t-y} at their house. James, Derek, and Molly live on Salisbury Beach, a tourist attraction and great spot for the locals to swim in the ocean, bathe in the sun, play some arcades, and eat some great food. Around 3 pm- Molly and I went outside and set up about 20 chairs, hung some Tiki decorations, and set up the tables for the food. The party started at 6. About 20 people showed up including a few friends, co-workers, and some of Molly's family. We ate some delicious food, had some delicious drinks {which included frozen margaritas, rum, and coconut jack} and roasted marshmellows over the fire pit. At 10 pm we all walked down to the beach, where we layed on the sand, to watch them light fireworks over the ocean. It was a blast. And it was actually our first party that none of us got hammered, so instead of staying the night I drove home at 2am and snuggled in bed with PJ and the pups <3


Yesterday I also went to a cook out one of my life long best friend Lauren's house. She cooked a huge assortment of food; from onions & potatoes, cheeseburgers, hot dogs, steak, chicken, to pasta salad, and a few desserts. We played bat-mitten (spelling?), volleyball, talked, and hung out drinking Corona's and Soda while listening to music and watching all the crazy kids of their's run around the back yard. The weather was wild. One second it was hot and humid, and the next it was thunder & lightning and the rain poured down on us. The second it was over, we were right back outside, only for it to repeat two or three times more. I ended up leaving before Lauren's fiance lit off the fireworks {which are illegal in the state of Mass- where we live} but ohwell :) I'm sure it was worth the smiles on the kids' faces and the men who got to shoot them off! I didn't get any pictures, BUMMER.