Home Cooked Meals

This was the night of my birthday dinner.
We made eggplant and chicken parmesan.
G made her homemade sauce recipe.
My cousin made the garlic bread
It was delish.

p.s. That is not my yellow Mazda Miata...I wish.

I turned 30 over the weekend of Thanksgiving.
The boy and 5 of my closest friends took me to a quiet city on the West Coast of Florida.
We actually swam near dolphins.
It was perfect.

A Key on the West Coast

Beer in a cup and a walk on the beach?
Yes, please. I'll take two.

This patio faced the ocean...

Loving Moose's sock/sandal combo in the lower left.

We climbed a tree

That had washed up on the beach.

The Moose's Engagement Party

Saturday night we celebrated with friends that were engaged just 2 weeks before us.
The party was beautiful, as was the future bride and her groom.

We took her to MAC

To get her make-up done for her party.
:)
p.s. again, I was the photographer.

The Day Before

I was the photographer in this picture - we were making cookies.
It was fun preparing for the engagement party for the Moose's on Saturday.

Pood's Birthday

Happy Birthday Poodle!

Monsters are Scary

My mom made the 8' monsters that stood behind us in these pictures.

BOO!

Halloween was fun this year.
My mom had a raging party.
And all of our friends had the time of their lives.

Wearing a blazer made me feel

NYC Chic
HA!

The Morning After

We walked around NYC in search of a great bagel place.

There was a Pole

There was a pole, and Halloween decorations.
Why not?

Under my Umbrella, ella, ella, ey ey ey

It rained after we got out of "Billy Elliott - The Musical".
But it kind of enhanced the romance of the city.

We Met the Girl

And she was lovely.
Congrats bro :)

Best. 24. Hours. Ever.

It was a quick trip to NYC, less than 24 hours spent in the Big Apple...
but wow did we have fun.

NY NY

The week of October 19th we took a trip to NYC.

Missing the Platinum

I'm kind of missing the platinum - what do you think?

Magic Moments

I loved seeing my friend T get married, she was a stunning bride.

This weekend we got to attend the baby shower for my cousins.

It was so sweet. And such a magic moment.

(since I don't have a pic, I included this one from T's wedding that gives the same warm, fuzzy, butterfly effect...)

3 Amigos

I just love this picture of us 3.

Don't you?

Happy Birthday love (cont'd)

We organized a pretty sweet group of friends to show up for her 21st.

Not bad for a Tueeeeeeeeeessssssssssday.

Happy 21st Love

It was my BFF and MOH's 21st (and I'm not saying that for flattery, she actually turned 21...gulp) birthday on Tuesday so we took her out for a surprise b-day dinner.

Isn't she cute?

Orlando is the new October

Every weekend we'll be traveling this month.

The first weekend in October, Miss V came to stay with me while at a conference.

And we were ladies...

Sitting on a park bench...

Dreaming of our upcoming weddings...

Awe.

And we froze...

But on purpose.

The Ice Bar is a tourist trap/destination to get ripped off/very organized awesome cold place that serves great drinks.

We were shuffled from room to room as if we were on a tour of the place and not as if we were visiting the Ice Bar for the drinks.

But it was worth it dawg, fo rizzle.

And we took boat tours

Amsterdam was founded in 1275.

No wonder everyone is happy - they have to have shit figured out by now.

Oh yeah, and that one thing.

And we played...

Amsterdam had beautifully decorated elephants all over the city.

I had two favorites, and this is one of them.

Love these ladies (note: Aunt Jenny in the back)

And we walked 500 miles...

And I would walk 500 more...

2nd Country - Amsterdam

So, on our travels...me and my hoodrat friends visited Amsterdam.

While we thought we would be confronted with free spirited druggies and prostitutes, we were wrong, somewhat...

Amsterdam is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been too.

And we will definitely go back.

(more to come)

Friends

We had the best time with 9 of our closest friends.

And formed even stronger relationships than before we left.

We are stronger than ever in our friend family.

Life is good.

Vacation

Sorry I've been MIA - we went away, on our trip to Europe finally.

It was magical.

Walking down cobblestone streets in Paris.

Visiting with boyfriend's Scottish family in Amsterdam.

And finally, singing with das Germans at Oktoberfest.

Beautiful

Paris made us all feel even more beautiful.

My future is in his hands

And I'm looking forward to every minute of it.

Lifetime

Boyfriend proposed at just around midnight on September 20th.

I can't wait to be his wife.

I feel different

There is just something about being a red-head.

I feel different - in a good way.

Something to Laugh (and Smile, and Skip) about

Even if I have a bad day at work,

I have a job, and I have a great life.

Even when I'm feeling lonely and misunderstood,

I have a boyfriend, and he loves me unconditionally.

And even if some days it feels as if the world and the universe are completely against me,

I have the most amazing friends and family, and I am one lucky girl.

I try to keep it all in perspective.

There really is always something to smile about.

It's all Greek

Boyfriend and I had a craving for Greek food.

So we went with my cousin and her boyfriend to our favorite new Greek restaurant.

Opa!

Safe word is Bananas

When you've been dueling tubes for nearly half an hour.

And the water is pushing your bikini bottom so far up your ass you just can't take it anymore...

You need a safe word.

And then you jump.

If you wear a life jacket upside down...

You can make a great raft.

Cheers to 18 years

We met in 5th grade.

It still feels like we hang out every day, each time I see her.

She's been my friend through everything.

And she always will be.

Dallas Bound

Wednesday I was off to Dallas for work.

I was also fortunate enough to extend my trip to visit an old friend.

We've known each other since we were 11 years old.

And now she has a little pumpkin of her own.

Mother came to visit

Last Sunday, Mother came to visit since my brother and his girlfriend were in town.

We had a nice brunch.

Family Photo

My brother and I hardly have photos like this taken.

We're usually laughing and joking around too much to take the time for a cute family photo.

I'm glad our friend snapped this.

It makes me happy.

And We Danced

Friday night we had the best time dancing, and laughing with family and our friend-family.

So in Love

I'm so happy right now.

Life is good.

The visit with my brother and his girlfriend was so much fun, more pictures to come.

Ciao.

IV Coffee Drip

Needing serious coffee injections today.

This is due to copious amounts of lasagna-making, mixed with many glasses of delicious wine.