This Situation Needs No Introduction

You know, I could sit here and give you all the low down of the Jersey Shore party at Trio last night, but I'd simply be wasting time and SERIOUSLY no matter how many details I povided, I just simply would not do it justice.

Without further adieu..what you all have been waiting for...

...Thank you Trio for QUALITY entertainment

...Thank you L'oreal, Revlon and any other makers of bronzer. More bronzer got sold last night than it would all summer

...Thank you Carolina Nightlife for such wonderful memories!

...Thank you Wet Seal, TJ Maxx, Claire's, and Icing for such wonderful outfit combos

...And THANK YOU Jersey Shore and MTV for starting this phenomenon--you made girls feel comfortable with poofs and "Bump Its" and guys feel comfortable with gym, tan, laundry!

Feel free to see what your Jersey Shore nickname would be!

Love, "The Princess of Paramus"

This is the situation...

So tonight the girls and I are going to a "Guido and Guidette" party at Trio. Rumor has it...

We may have some special guests...

Oh and she may be there too...

Oh did I mention we have to dress up? Yeah, I don't own anything that trashy, so I will make sure my "poof" would be Snooki approved.

Please stay tuned for the hilarity that will follow in pictures.

GTL baby!!

The ULTIMATE challenge!!

So it's no surprise that I get bored with things easily. In my lifetime (or 24 years) I have quit the following due to boredom: piano, softball, gymnastics, scrapbooking, hip hop dance (wait, does it count as quitting when you only went once??), cross stitching, and I have quit relationships due to boredom! It seems that now I'm getting bored with my workouts. I end up doing the same things at the gym all the time: run 3-5 miles and lift...doing the same exercises every time. Ugh! how awful. I need a change!

This change is occurring for many reasons: 1. I need something to continuously post about on my blog.  2. I need a new workout routine. 3. I am in two weddings in July and want to be in tip top shape. 4. It's something Matthew and I can do together.

I'm not going to spill all the details on my challenge just yet but I will share some details and clues.

...I will not start this challenge until April 15--you can guess why!

...This challenge will last 3 months

...I will post pictures

...I will have a "beach body"

Here is an example of the results that some have had from this challenge

Let's hope I don't look EXACTLY like that, but you get the idea!! :)

Stay Tuned!!

It was Magic!

Matt and I had a great weekend together in Charlotte. It made saying goodbye to him today especially hard.  Charlotte is an awesome city. There is so much to do, if you haven't been you should make it a point to visit! I got there late on Friday so we grabbed some dinner at Pei Wei . It's a little asain diner with food that will knock your socks off!  On Saturday we checked out South Park and realized we probably needed a little more money to shop there. Let's just say Burberry, Tiffany's, and Louis Vitton aren't our frequent shopping hot spots! Saturday night we went into downtown Charlotte with our good friends Drew and Lindsey.  We all had tickets to the Bobcats vs. Magic game!! Before the game we walked around downtown, found the Epi Centre and had dinner at  Aria . It's a Tuscan grill and the food is AMAZING!! The highlight of the night was the NBA game...my first NBA game.

Here's Matt and I inside the arena watching Dwight Howard warm up (oh and by the way--he is HUGE and his shoulders are probably bigger than my head!)

Not that close, but a shot of both teams warming up

That is J.J. Redick shooting a foul shot. I had to show the boy some love, he got "booed" soo BAD every time he entered the game and every time he touched the ball. He is not loved in the state of NC at all!!

Shot of downtown after the game. Downtown Charlotte is gorgeous! Lots of great architectural elements.

Lastly, we ended the night here.....

After the game we went to this bar called  Howl at the Moon in the Epi Centre.It was one of the coolest bars I've been to in a while.  They are known for their rock'n roll piano show. There were people of all ages in there and all the musicians killed it! Check out this video of what it's like in there!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VoinDIe6Vg

(Ugh...sorry I can't figure out how to post the actual video)

It was a great weekend. The Magic won in OT, the girl singing the national anthem completely botched it, I saw Ric Flair at the game  (WWHHOOOO!), and to top it all off I got a fortune in my fortune cookie at Pei Wei that said, "Good news of long-waited event will arrive soon". I'm not that superstitious but I have this weird thing with fortune cookies. The last one I got, I carried in my pocket to every single exam I took my senior year at BC and then took it to every part of the CPA exam. So let's just say I believe in those little things... ;)

Charlotte Bound!!

This weekend I'm venturing up to Charlotte, NC to visit Matthew!  He's been living there for about 3 weeks now while he is on his clinical rotation. This is one of my last free weeekends because in a few short weeks, this is going to be me.....

(For those of you who don't know this is a Norman Rockwell painting, I love his paintings!)

Yep, I'm a CPA and will be super busy until "D-day"...April 15th. I will end up working most weekends, so I must say farewell to my typical weekend activities:

...Goodbye two hour afternoon naps. I love you DEARLY, and can't wait until we are reunited after 4/15!

...Goodbye laundry day Sundays....I will fit you in when I have time or until I run out of clean socks/underwear.

...Goodbye Saturday grocery shopping. I will find time to buy food, just not the usual busy Saturday where I can stand in line and read gossip magazines and then not buy one!

...Goodbye weekly TV shows. I don't have time for most of you, but I will always make time for "The Bachelor".

...Goodbye evening dinners cooked by Matthew. He is no longer here therefore I will probably come home at 8:00 or 9:00 pm to eat cereal!

...Goodbye daylight..I will see you again soon. Just in time for BEACH season!!!

...Goodbye clean room....actually you are never that clean, but things could get ugly for a while.

...Goodbye great sales at great stores. I know my fashion sense will suffer for the next 3 months....I will rebound strong in May though!!

...Goodbye gym routine...HELLO "tax season 15". Just kidding!! I will force myself to go to tae bo weekly!

...Goodbye free time. I never had much of you anyway, but I adored you!

...Goodbye friends and family.  I may miss calls, not return calls, or not call you (as often as I should), but I will try to get better about that!


Hope everyone has a great weekend. I can't wait for my weekend with Matthew! ~xo~

Misunderstood

First off, I had a fabulous birthday and these beautfiul flowers are from Matthew! He knows I love pink!  My birthday weekend was great and consisted of all the things I love.  Friday I went to happy hour at O'Malleys with my co-workers. Saturday I went shopping during the day and went with some friends to dinner at Senior Tequila.  I've heard from some co-workers that the 'Chicken con Mole' is a great dish.  Mole is a spicy chocolate sauce and when I asked the waiter about this he told me I was wrong, and that it didn't have chocolate in it.  After some intense googling by Tara, we found that mole sauce DOES have chocolate in it like I said.  It is one of the most misunderstood sauces.  It was a great mix of sweet and spicy and here is a recipe for anyone who wants to try a misunderstood sauce.

-4 1/2 c. chicken broth

-1 Tbsp. olive oil

-1 c. finely chopped onion

-3 Tbsp chopped garlic

-1 tsp. dried oregano

-1 tsp. ground cumin

-1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

-2 1/2 Tbsp. chili powder

-3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour

-2 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

Heat oil on med. heat in saucepan. Lower heat and add onion, garlic, oregano, cumin, cinnamon.  Cover and cook until onion is almost tender, stirring occasionally. Mix in chili powder and flour. Gradually whisk in chicken broth. Increase heat and boil until reduced, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and whisk in chocolate.

Voila!

Delicious and no longer misunderstood.

Thank you all for a wonderful birthday!!

It's My Party!

24!!!

23 years ago I was rockin' hot pink bikinis and trying to learn to walk. Today I'm turning 24 and still rockin' bikinis. 23 years ago I was naive, innocent, and dependent. Now, I've created a nice little life for myself. I'm independent, I've made mistakes (and learned from them), and I've grown up tremendously since moving to Charleston.  Now as I go into my 24th year of "childhood" or adulthood I guess, I have made a list of things I want for myself in the next year!!

1. A dog!

2. A new car

3. A new little place to call our home~xo~

4. Lastly, I want to be happy and healthy in my 24th year. I want to progress in my career and to start the next exciting chapter of my life! :)

Lions and Tigers and Bears...OH MY!

On New Year's Day Matt and I wanted to "escape" for a while, so we drove to Columbia to spend the day at the Columbia Zoo. It was a wet and cold day so we weren't sure how the day would go but we had a great time.  The last time I had been to a zoo was in grade school, and I had been telling Matt how I wanted to go to the National Zoo . That was a little too far but the Columia Zoo was just as fun. Here are some pictures from our day trip.

We absolutely fell in love with the giraffes!

...and how cute is this guy?

...and don't forget this harmless guy...

Finally we made a stop at the farm exhibit, complete with llamas, turkeys, miniature horses, etc. The day was complete when I got Matthew to milk a cow. Take a good look because you will NEVER see this again!!!

...Ok so it wasn't the real thing, but it is as close as he'll ever get.

Thanks for a great day. xo.

I Caved!!

Well, I did it...I created a blog. Ugh...this could end up being one of the most fun and creative things I've attempted...or it could fail. Either way, I created this for multiple reasons:

1. I love my family and friends (shout out to MD), but unfortunately I don't get to see them as much as I'd like. This is my way of keep all of our family and friends up-to-date on the most current happenings in our lives.

2. I stalk other people's blogs. I'm not ashamed to admit that. I have seen posts from others and it looks like an online scrapbook and I love that.

Here is an example of one of the most ADDICTING blogs out here:
The Rockstar Diaries

I stumbled across this one day and was immediately drawn to their love for life and each other.  I have no idea who this couple is, but they are the most creative people I have ever seen. Their blog is proof.

3. I'm doing this just to prove to myself that I CAN do it and I will stick with it!

Vows:  By creating this blog I promise to update weekly, I promise to limit the amount of accounting humor I use, and I promise to avoid any lists of things that I think are cliche'.

Welcome to MY world!!