The Ultimate

It is hard to find words to describe this weekend. I don't think I could have crammed one more exciting event into it though. It was nothing less than The Ultimate.

Saturday morning was my best friends bridal shower. It is the second bridal shower that I've ever attended (!!!) and the first one that I was partially responsible for planning (see those center pieces?! Ya. I made 'em). It was so exciting to see all of her friends and family there to shower her with love and support. I made my first ribbon bouquet which looks fabulous if you ask me. It was challenging to get everything to run smoothly, but I think we all did a fantastic job. As long as the bride is happy, right?! Now it's time to get a move on for the last bit of planning for the big day. Only two months away!

Sunday was my little sister's graduation from her community college. I am so proud of her. She won the only dance award given at the ceremony! Afterwards, we came back to my house and had a kick-ass party. We were a little bummed when the weather forced all of us into our tiny kitchen/living room  (icky, wet shoes and all) but nonetheless, I think everyone had a great time. Congratulations baby sister. I can't wait to see what wonderful things you do next!

Sunday night I was down for the count. We just cleaned up and cuddled up on the couch. If the alarm hadn't gone off Monday morning, I'm sure I could have slept for at least two days straight. Although I was beyond the point of exhaustion, I wouldn't have traded those two days for anything in the world. 

I hope you all had a fabulous weekend too. Keep an eye out from some exciting details on a giveaway that I will be doing on a special lady's blog  r e a l l y  soon!

The time we were supposed to have a Halloween Party

It's been exactly a week since we've had internet at our house. For reasons unknown to us, we lost cable/internet last Friday. Maybe that was supposed to be a warning for what was to come..

I've never planned a Halloween party, but after moving into a house with the perfect basement for it, I quickly convinced boyfriend that we had to have one. So we planned and invited people. My mom and I bought/made decorations, and baked endless amounts of goodies. While cleaning and setting up for the party Saturday afternoon, giant feather-looking snowflakes started to fall. My mom called and strongly suggested moving the party to Sunday since we were expecting a snow storm, but I was in denial of anything major happening. And we live in New England.. it's not like we've never seen snow before! People starting to call saying they wouldn't be coming. I kept decorating. The snow was falling faster and harder, I put out the table cloths and candy. We lost power, I blew up balloons and shouted "I'M STILL HAVING A PARTY!" I refused to let a little snow storm get in the way. 

Finally at 7pm, I had given up, parked my hinny on the couch, and began my sulking session while devouring the bowl of candy in my sweats. No costumes, no people, no power and a whole boat load of sweets for the two of us. A few people did show up, to our surprise. We were happy/shocked when we saw a car pull in to our driveway, and double shocked when our neighbors showed up. It wasn't the turn out that we were expecting, but they were good company and the more bodies to warm the house, the better!

Well the power stayed off for five days. In the seven months that we have lived in this house, we've lost power twice. I've never seen a storm like this. Snow falling on October 29th, and more trees across the road and taking down power lines than standing where they should be. It wasn't even Halloween!!! We had about 10 inches of snow on the ground by Sunday morning. Some places had 18 + inches! After cursing the snow that fell and "ruined" our party, we were quickly thankful for the snow once we realized that we would probably be without power for days. Our survival plan would probably win the Most Creative Award. We loaded buckets of snow and dumped them into our bathtub. Once it melted we used it to flush our toilet. Although it probably made the temperature in our house drop rapidly, it worked. We left Sunday to fill our propane tank so we could use our grill. We scrambled eggs, made chicken wings and warmed up snow water so that I could wash my hair. We survived and definitely made the best of a very cold and dark few days. Some places in MA and CT won't have power back for another week! I'm so thankful that we have our warm house back and I hope everyone without power stays safe and gets their power back soon!

Have a happy and safe weekend! Most places around here postponed Halloween so maybe we'll get some trick-or-treaters after all!

Oh how time flies

via pinterest

Welp. The long weekend is just about to commence folks. 

Sad. But true.

Today we enjoyed marching in a little parade, I watched boyfriend help a buddy with his truck, we had a picnic with the family and I taught dance. It was a pretty fabulous day. It was hot hot hot, but still very enjoyable and very muchly appreciated. And tomorrow I go back to work, and boyfriend goes back to school.

After today, I am really looking forward to more celebrations and the summer goodies (as I like to call them, like the beach, campfires, picnics, road trips.) God bless boyfriend for agreeing to go to school all summer long - with the exception of one week off, he'll be there Monday thru Friday till sometime in October. There's no way I'd give my summer up for homework and lectures.. but to each his own, and I guess when it's something you love, you'll do pretty much whatever it takes. Kudos boyfriend. Plus, he'll only have been in school for one year total. So I still have him beat with four. So HA!

I hope you had a lovely long weekend. Please take time to remember what Memorial Day is all about and appreciate the lives that were given up in order for us to live ours.

Much love.

Home is wherever I'm with you

This weekend was absolutely fabulous. No stress (surprisingly), lots of food, friends & family that I haven't seen in forever & just some good fun.

Welcome To Our Home
I've chosen some before & after shots for you, along with some from our housewarming party. There is still quite a bit of decorating to be done.. so keep that in mind!

Living Room:

 

[Still have more to do with this room - vinyl wall decor to come!]

Kitchen/Dining Room:

My Craft Room:

[Most of the kid's rooms were painted every color of the rainbow]

Bathroom:

 

 **Housewarming Party: May 7th, 2011**

(two months after moving in)

For now,  you'll just have to picture that there are green shutters and grass growing and mulch..

 The back deck all set up for the party!

 Where we will probably spend most of the summer - I love camp fires!

 My favorite spring plant!

Best part of the night - campfire =]

 Sisters!

 Our neighbors!

 Momma!

 Lots of friends!

Home Sweet Home!

Hope everyone had a lovely weekend - we sure did =]

... now I must get back to cleaning up...

Wednesday Wishes

1. This. And to do this.

 

 here

2. I need to stop falling behind. Not having time to sit and read my daily dose of blogs is starting to get to me. Someday soon friends, someday soon. Until then, please bare with me. I promise that when you think I have finally disappeared, I will surprise you with an overdue visit.. and by then you might not even remember my name ; )

3. Housewarming Party Weekend is almost here! I hope that people show up. I hope it is so much fun, that we stay up till 4 am. I hope I'm not running around pulling my hair out. I hope it doesn't rain. I hope that our yard looks somewhat pretty. And I hope that Dana and I actually have time to enjoy ourselves. [The only reason I dislike hosting parties: the 70% chance that by the time you are enjoying it, no one is there..]

4. Almost a year ago, to the day, I was graduating college. And this weekend some of my most treasured friends will be doing the same. If I wasn't such a dummy.. I would have scheduled things differently, and been able to attend. But since I am not, I wish all of them a lovely last week of college, and a fantastic graduation!

5. I wish I had the energy to workout. Along with just an ounce of self control.. just sayin'.

6. I wish you would tell me your wishes too!

 Click above to participate!


xoxo

Betcha can't wait till Sunday for all the party pics?!

Time for an update!

Yesterday I returned from my trip to Maine.
While visiting with my lovely best friend, several exciting things happened:

1. Alivia and I got into Eclipse Dance Company
2. I spent time lounging, laughing and relaxing with wonderful people
3. Alivia and I bought and two slip n' slides ($5 each.. which we were really proud of) which we set up at her wonderful graduation party
4. I made lots of yummy food with her and her momma

Some recipes I will be using for my own graduation party this weekend
Like..

Cranberry Pinwheels:

1-8 ounces carton of whipped cream cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) crumbled feta cheese
¼ cup chopped green onion
6 ounces of dried cranberries
4-10 inch flour tortillas

1. Mix cream cheese and feta cheese
2. Add green onion and cranberries and mix well
3. Spread about half of a cup of the mixture onto each tortilla
4. Roll tightly and slice
5. Can be served immediately and/or made a day ahead of time
: )

*Another version that we had this weekend was made with peanut butter, honey and granola (with no raisins). Spread peanut butter on the wrap, then honey and last sprinkle with granola!*


Ice Cream Bomb:
Originally by Jill Silverman

4-5 boxes of Ho-Ho's (aka Swiss Rolls, Yodel's etc.)
2-3 cartons of ice cream - mix up the flavors : )

1. Line the inside of a large bowl (or however big you want the bomb) with aluminum foil.
2. Slice the swiss rolls about quarter of an inch and place along the entire surface of the aluminum foil (some say that it is easier to cut when the swiss rolls are frozen, however we found that they stick better when they aren't).
3. Layer your ice cream as desired. We like to separate each ice cream section with another layer of swiss rolls.
4. Put in the freezer immediately and allow several hours (or overnight) for it to harden.
5. To serve, place the bowl upside down on a plate and remove aluminum foil.
6. Variations on this recipe are endless. Try adding peanut butter or hardening chocolate. Experiment with different ice creams..
I think it's impossible for one of these to not taste delicious!

In addition to making these two things, I will also be making a tomato-bread salad, fruit dip, and maybe a cheese dip. My mom already made the lasagna and today I will be baking a couple batches of cookies and some breads for the party. Luckly, lovely friends and family are also bringing dishes to share! I hope people come to eat all this food : )

I can't express how excited, anxious and most of all nervous I am to be moving to NYC. Since today is June 1st, it suddenly occurred to me that it is only a few weeks away. It seems like everything is happening so fast and all at once. Parties, recitals and orchestrating our living situation is beyond stressful.

BUT this is what I've been waiting so long for.. so it's worth it : )