Unchartered 20s

Domesticky

2012-04-01T17:24:00.000-04:00

Last weekend, I spent most of my time at home since I wasn't feeling well. All of a sudden, in the middle of afternoon on Saturday, I got a burst of energy, walked into the kitchen and baked! Now I know this isn't a big deal to most (especially my baker husband) but it was for me. I've always disliked cooking and the effort required. But after my attempt at pancakes a few weeks ago, and the sight of some super brown bananas I couldn't bear to throw away, Iwas encouraged to try a quick bread recipe.

I broke out the old Better Homes & Gardens cook book for a recipe Pete had made many times before. It is surprisingly simple! You can follow the recipe I used here. I skipped the walnuts and added mini chocolate chips.

Three Things

2012-03-29T23:13:00.000-04:00

Three things I'm loving this week!

Spring is in the air!! (It may be killing my lungs via allergies though.) I love the contrast of city and nature. I'm always forgetting that trees have pretty flowers on them before they bloom into leaves.

Kale in my smoothies! I'm really new to kale. We tried a frozen bag a few weeks ago and were sorta unimpressed. I would like to try this fresh next time and try making the hugely popular kale chips recipe. Anyway, blending frozen kale into my smoothie is a great way to get some greens in before I leave for work. You can't even taste it in there! I swear!

My new rainbow sock monkey! My mommy bought this for me because I am 5 years old and she loves me. :D

Week Long Randomness

2012-03-27T22:07:00.000-04:00

Welcome to a web of randomness!! This past week I've been feeling a bit under the weather. I had random bouts of every so slight dizziness & light headed-ness, and headaches. Now, a few days later, I have a bad cough. Everyone around me has guessed it's allergies and ~~since all people are doctors~~ I believe them. Being ill leads to a very exciting week although I did have a chance to spend some quality one on one time with my sister on Saturday, and catch up with the girls over brunch on Sunday.

Here are some thoughts:

I'm watching Oprah Presents Master Class: Bon Jovi while writing this post. So this handsome guy is on my mind :D

Source of Dreaminess

I actually found an old camera memory card recently and was excited to find out what was on it. About 50 pictures were of a Bon Jovi concert my sister Dianna & I went to in 2007 at Madison Square Garden! We've seen him together multiple times through the years, (my sister even more times than me!) but this was my personal favorite performance. We sat fifth row! God, all shows should be watched from the fifth row. It was awesome!! It was soooo fun!

Apparently it was macaron week in my life. Just macarons 24/7. I went from having a macaron once in my life to seeing them everywhere and having quite the craving. I always want to buy some, but they're a bit pricey. I finally gave in when I stopped in Financier to pick up those two baby cakes for Pete's birthday.

Seven came in the box and, while tasty, unfortunately you couldn't really tell what each flavor was. I mean, all the beiges could've been anything.

The day after my purchase just so happened to be National Macaron Day. There were multiple bakeries participating across the city and each were offering a free macaron with your visit. The only one near my job in midtown was Macaron Cafe. There was a bit of a line outside, but it moved rather quickly. Once inside, I chose vanilla and OMG. These put the Financier ones to shame!! The cookie portion was much more fresh & soft. There was an abundance of well flavored filling in the middle that just made the cookie fantastic. NOW I see why you shouldn't go for the "cheap" stuff.

Nom nom nom

Um, what kind of cruel joke is this, Key Food?

This picture of Lucy makes me want to make a sad, silent, foreign film with mellow piano accompaniment.

The balloon can float around aimlessly. Lucy will watch. Think about the balloon.

This one is a bit more playful. Turns out neither cat is thrilled w/ the balloon. Both are easily scared of it. Ha! Scardy cat! ....oh wait.

And lastly, me, Pete & my parents all went to Cheesecake Factory last night. After the meal we ordered cheesecake (duh) and I got the banana creme one with fresh banana. When my cake arrived, I was overjoyed to see multiple lil 'naner faces looking up at me!!

Now, I eat bananas nearly every single day, but I don't think I've ever seen them smile at me! As someone who anthropomorphizes everything, this was ridiculously hard to eat. ... but then I got over it. It was actually delicious, and is now my new favorite flavor of cheesecake.

Three Things

2012-03-22T16:36:00.000-04:00

Welcome back for Three Things Thursday! You can check out earlier installments here & here.

Pete & I were looking for a great Indian restaurant since our local one closed (and quite frankly, wasn't that great anyway) and checked out Seva in Astoria. The place is cozy with only about 12 tables & a super attentive staff of 400. Luckily they were attentive, but not overbearing.

Anyway, as an appetizer, I ordered the masala crab cakes. Holy moly were these delicious! They came with 2 sauces which both complimented the crab cake so well. As soon as I took my last bite, I was already planning to order these again soon!

{Fun birthday napkins.}

{Baby birthday cakes for the birthday boy! From Financier Patisserie}

Spend Your Birthday with the Rockefellers

2012-03-18T10:00:00.001-04:00

Saturday was Pete's 30th birthday. After a homemade breakfast (made by moi!) we headed out for a day of hiking at the The Rockefeller State Park Preserve in Sleepy Hollow, NY. The weather was gorgeous and spring-like. It was the perfect day to be outside.

There were multiple trailways to choose from. None of them were exceptionally long, but were all interconnected, so we would start out on one and follow through to another. One pathway we chose led us up a steep hill and we were rewarded with cows! :D

I swear, every couple of minutes I would just remark about how pretty & calming the entire park was. I loved the sound of our shoes hitting the pavement, the birds chirping & the babbling brook. I felt like my soul was being nourished and I was one with nature again. It was a very Oprah moment.

It was such a fun afternoon being healthy, getting fresh air and celebrating life. <3

Happy St. Pancake's Day!

2012-03-17T11:24:00.000-04:00

Today is a special day! Not only is it St. Patrick's Day...

{Happy St. Patrick's day to all my Irish brothers & sisters!}

But more importantly... Happy Birthday to my favoritest person ever - my husband Pete!!

I love you so much & am excited to celebrate this milestone with you! xoxoxo

To help Pete celebrate, I decided to make him pancakes for breakfast. This is a big deal because I rarely cook, so he was pretty shocked! I want to cook more often anyway, so today was a great day to start.

I made chocolate chip banana pancakes! I used this recipe. They came out delicious!

I'm happy to report they came out delicious! Pete approved!

We're off to do some outdoorsy things and then have dinner reservations in the city. Enjoy the rest of your day and this fatty picture of Peach! :)

Three Things Thursday

2012-03-15T13:25:00.000-04:00

Hello hello! Time for the second installment of my newest feature Three Things Thursday! You can check out the first installment here.

NINJA BREAD MEN

What more can I say about these little cookie cut outs! How fun!! Hi-ya!!

Last week I was making fresh bread crumbs (it really helps if your husband can bring home freshly made bread every single day, if he so chooses) in the blender. As it whipped around I thought, "This is probably what the inside of Lucy's brain looks like." Just a loud whirlwind of crumbs.

I have not been able to get this image out of my mind since! She's a crazy & hyperactive little girl. She often bolts off for no reason & is voracious at playtime. She will hunt you a mouse. Or straw. Or piece of tin foil. Or Peach. She's ridiculous :) <3

Lastly - Sock Monkeys!! I only have one & my mom recently got me another (after she saw how excited I was about it - it's RAINBOW! - when she was going to gift it to a grandchild. hehe.. I'll always be her baby!)

I have a hard time ignoring these guys but have successfully NOT started a collection...yet. Although these little babies look perfect for my couple o' monkeys ;)

Quiet Time

2012-03-13T16:03:00.000-04:00

For the last two weekends, I had some quiet time just hanging around the apartment, cleaning, watching DVR, hanging out with Pete. I've become very much a homebody the last year or two and as much as I love being at home with my little family, I think it gets to me a bit. I think I thrive exploring, engaging and being with friends and family.

That being said, here is a sad bulletpoint list of my week:

Laundry!! Laundry laundry. Hate hate hate.

I had a deliciously ripe avocado.

Pete invited his dad over and made his mom's family favorite recipe - Pot Roast! God I hate pot roast LOL. Always have, ever since I was a kid and my mom made it. I just don't like the taste of the meat (twss). I did enjoy the throwback of using 80 cans in a meal. I thought they all looked pretty lined up. These days Pete makes his own sauces & gravies, so this is an uncommon sight in our household.

And possibly the biggest development - the cats are starting to bond!! Only 5 months of hissing before Peach allowed Lucy to sit next to her (it only lasted about 3 minutes). I screamed as quietly as possible to get Pete to come into the living room in time.

This morning, I snapped another semi-bonding moment. I guarantee they'll spend most of the day on these chairs.

"You can stay" ... "Bitch, I know"

How was your weekend? Next weekend should be entertaining as someone I married is turning 30!!

Three Things Thursday

2012-03-08T09:00:00.003-05:00

Don't you love alliteration? I'm starting a new "segment"... 3 Things Thursday! Three things I'm obsessed with and loving! ... or liking... or noticed....or find interesting... etc etc. :)

Irish macaroons!! I was walking down a NY street and stopped dead in my tracks (which is AWESOME for the people behind me...and I love when tourists do that) because I was drawn to this display!!

I never knew that these type of macaroons existed until Pete brought them home from pastry school. I was only aware of the coconuty version. Can you tell I'm not French?

What I am though, is Irish! (1/2) I walked straight in and then realized the cost and walked straight out! Haha! I will have to wait until payday for these babies!

Peach's paws!
Because I'm a thinly veiled cat lady & love my camera, I often get down on the ground to her level and get some up close photos and candids. Peach is a big ol' bear and she has giant paws. They're cute. Sometimes we hold hands/paws while watching television.

Remember the days of film? I used to be so excited to run down to CVS and see what developed, only to see I had my eyes closed in 3 of them, my finger over the lens in 2, and about 9 generally bad shots. Thank God for digital! haha :)

Mac & Cheese Cups!!

Holy moly... I was reading Emily's blog over at Cupcakes & Cashmere, lazily browsing, when these babies caught my eye. OMGosh!! I loooove little miniature things. LOVE. I love tiny spoons and tiny cups and tiny whisks and tiny spatulas. Tiny frames, tiny Lego people, tiny EVERYTHING. I can't wait to make these for my next get together!!

Source

NOM NOM NOM!

Kicking Off The Week Right

2012-03-05T13:35:00.000-05:00

How was your weekend? Mine was super low key and included lots of cleaning, DVR and not feeling so great :(.

I decided to start my Monday off right! I woke up early and headed over to the track.

I used to come to this park fairly regularly as a child. The track used to be red and a bit over grown, and now its a new feisty blue!

When I went to sleep last night I told myself I'd hit the gym, but when I woke up, my body just wanted to be outside in the fresh air. It was pretty cold out, but enjoyed the semi nostalgic & brisk walk.

I generally love taking walks around my neighborhood and in the city. While I enjoyed the fact that the track helped me .... track my distance, overall I was slightly bored. I couldn't stop looking at the ground for some reason ~~blueeee prettty~~ and decided that I much prefer walks with more entertaining views.

This woman is carrying her purse. ha

No martinis??

I accomplished 2 miles. I know it's not much but I was happy to have started my day out right, with the limited time I had. Yay! Hopefully this sets the tone for the week.

Nature!

2012-02-29T23:29:00.000-05:00

Last weekend Pete & I wanted to get outside and take advantage of the warm temperatures and explore somewhere new. Pete did a little research and discovered a state park on Long Island called the Caleb Smith State Park Reserve.

Old house on the hill

It was so nice to be outside in the fresh air and to just feel like winter is finally starting to end (even though its barely been that cold this year). Our surroundings were so pretty filled with ~~dead~~ trees, a pond and little random bridges and footpaths everywhere.

This park had a number of different trails, the longest being 3.2 miles. We wandered around mixing and matching different trails and then started getting nervous as the sun sank into the western horizon and all hope was lost... as lost as our two souls were. LOL Nah dawg, it's ok.. we made it out just fine!

This isn't the least bit confusing

Pete is home!

We're a little out of shape

It was so ~~Peachful~~ peaceful to be outside and one with nature. I kept saying to Pete that I wanted to drive out here and think about my life all the time. I even found the perfect place to do it:

My thinkin' stump

I really enjoyed our day out together! I always love spending time with the hubby :) <3 Mushy mush mush :D

Cupcake Wine

2012-02-28T15:52:00.000-05:00

So I am totally failing at my "Blog 10 Times A Month" goal from 2012. Sorry. I will make more of an effort!

How are you? What's been goin' on? I've been working, doing yoga and loving the cats.

"I think I'll try defying gravity"

Last week I had the pleasure of seeing Memphis for the first time. I was super excited to attend because one of my faves, Adam Pascal was in it!

la la la

Pete & I had fun at the show! I think it's an all around entertaining show to see if you're in town. I'm super excited about all the new stuff opening this season. I love living in NYC!
(Thank you thank you Karl for the tix!:)

Over the weekend I went to Patrick's since that is now the hottest club in town. It's a place in trendy Hoboken, where my name is always on the list! I brought a bottle of Cupcake Shiraz with me. No.. it's not cupcake flavored, but it sure is yummy!

I haven't had wine in a while! My faves are Shiraz & Riesling.

Look! People live in their cabinets!

Afterwards we met up with Mike and had some drinks. We always have a good time hanging out :)

Rants

2012-02-17T23:56:00.000-05:00

Friday rants!!

Look what I finally found at Target!! I've tried the Blood Orange so far and it is delicious!

I cant wait to try the apple cinnamon! PLUS I tweeted Chobani about blood orange being my new fave and they tweeted me back!

I thought this was pretty cool!!

My twitter handle changed... I've always had my private one, and my "Unchartered" one...but I think I just want to be me. So, follow me & tweet me! @LauLugo9
Look what ELSE I found in Target

uh oh...

This morning I was running late and had to eat my oatmeal at my desk. How attractive and yummy does this look? :p

App-e-tizing!

This and a banana did the job. (Twss).

Jonah Hill looks odd at all weights.

Source

Cake!

And look at who is getting along 24% of the time! Yay!

Ugh, I hate skinny people watching me eat

That's ma rant!! Have a nice weekend!

Cashew Butter! ....Bless you!

2012-02-15T18:23:00.000-05:00

A few weeks ago, I used a Groupon to a place called Elm Heath, a natural foods/grocery store. I had purchased one of these before, and while I thought they were really expensive, (higher priced than Whole Foods) I still felt I was able to get a good deal with the extra money the Groupon provided.

When it popped up on Groupon again I grabbed it, not realizing the location was different! This one was in the convenient location of 1st & 80th which is near no trains. Ah well. Getting exercise to get healthy food!

This time around I only picked up chia seeds, almond milk, pistachios and some packets of nut butters! I was super excited to find the packets because sometimes you don't want to commit to a $15 jar of something you're not sure you'll like!

That was a lot of babbling to get to my pretty breakfast! One of the packets I bought was cashew butter! When I first tasted it, I thought... this tastes exactly as you think it would....sort of creamy cashews. Not sweet or anything. It seemed fine.

THEN I added bananas and *lightbulb* some honey. Holy moly!! This was SO darn delicious!!

Of course, I sprinkled chia seeds on top.

I will definitely be picking up a jar o' cashew butter!

What's you're favorite type of nut butter??

PS Peach's sleeping positions cracks me up.

Happy Valentine's Day!

2012-02-14T13:44:00.000-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Things I Love:
My hubby

Peach & Lucy

My Family

My Friends

Bravo TV

Source

Chia Seeds

Seats on the subway...

Subway

And you!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Ramble ramble

2012-02-06T15:54:00.000-05:00

Happy February 6th! Hopefully all of you woke up to a brand new day for the fourth time and are not stuck learning French, playing the piano or generally wooing Andie MacDowell.

I started February off right and headed to the gym! I did some cardio and was quite proud of myself!

Although it's already the easiest thing in the world for me, I want to say that I've fully committed to healthy breakfasts. It's the other meals that I struggle with, but I have to say, starting off the day with something healthy really does get you in the right mind set for the day. All week I've been having oatmeal with banana!

Today I added a tablespoon of chocolate almond butter MMMMM.

steamy

Nom nom. I also added a tablespoon of chia seeds and had an iced coffee on the side. Peach thought it looked tasty.

In other news - look at this yellow wrapped subway I took the other day!

Tropicana shuttle

Random Link:

I got completely stuck on this website the other day. This was where I started: 12 Things Happy People Do Differently, and then I got sucked into all the other links on the side. Some are interesting, some are dumb....all are good as time killers ;)

Thank you for reading through the ramble post. This concludes the ramble post.

Last Stop, Llanview

2012-01-31T22:25:00.000-05:00

Last week, after travelling for six hours in a car with food poisoning and feeling awful for roughly 80 percent of the time, a small tiny miracle happened. The nausea stopped. As soon as we hit Staten Island, I was able to sit up a bit and make conversation with Vince without feeling the crushing waves of queasiness. This was a big deal. Feeling sick sucks, but I had tickets for the Loving Llanview event that night! My mother & I had been looking forward to this since the Tribute to Pine Valley All My Children event and got tickets to this event for Christmas. One Life to Live was our true favorite soap and this was the final event we were going to participate in since it's cancellation.

As soon as I got in the house, I asked Pete what HE would do. A random reprieve of sickness doesn't guarantee that I would feel well enough to drive out there and sit in a theater for two hours. He recommended I not go. ... Can you guess what I did?

I went!! LOL I hadn't eaten all day, and my Mom turned into my Mommy and brought crackers and all kinds of stomach meds. I had a cracker and was then full (love the food poisoning diet). We drove out there and got into our seats. I was feeling pretty good! But then, about 20 minutes into it, my sickness started creeping back. Luckily nothing...happened. I just felt the strongest urge to lie down.

The show itself was fun! Ten actors from the show were asked questions, trivia and told behind the scenes stories. As much as I loved the television show, I have to admit... the All My Children show was actually much more organized and more entertaining than this one, and overall, a much better show. There was a clear person leading the show and moving things along when they needed to be, and that was sort of lacking at this one. I was about 20% disappointed. Can one be a percentage disappointed? I'm sure my slight sickness didn't help my tolerance for anything less than perfection. ;)

I'm still glad I got to spend some time with my mom and not have my Christmas present go to waste. My dad offered to go with her, but he said that would be like a major punishment for him and that if he went, she'd owe him a pot roast. LOL.

No pot roast for Dad!

So that's it on the soap front! I already miss my daily routine, or weekend catch up routine of seeing what's going on in Llanview

Washington D.C. Part 2

2012-01-29T20:00:00.002-05:00

I'm not gonna lie... the first D.C. post was getting a bit long but honestly, if I'm going to stick to my resolutions..... I needed to make a second post. HA! But it actually works out well as after 3p on that Friday, drinks were never not consumed again.

Vince & I really worked up an appetite after our mini tour of the monuments. Vince had planned to meet up for a drink with his friend Kaitlyn so we headed over to a place recommended by my brother actually (who love love loves D.C.... must be a family thing?), called Elephant & Castle.

What a fun English pub type of place! I was excited when I saw the beer menu and decided to try Fuller's London Pride. MmMmmmmmmmm! I also tried Fullers ESB which was also good but I went back for another London Pride. I also love that 1 drink turned into 5. Oh us!

Afterwards Vince & I headed over to Melissa's where her and Nat cooked us a lovely dinner! They made a whole chicken with cous cous, roasted tomatoes & a cesar salad. It was SO good! :)

When we left Melissa's apartment, poor Vince missed a step on the way out. He went down like a ton of bricks. Initially, the wonderful people Melissa & I are, started laughing, thinking he was joking..... until we saw his face. He sprained his ankle pretty badly!! :( He was a trooper though and we tried to make sure he had a place to sit, or did minimal dancing.

Once we all made it into the cab, we hit the town! We went to Nellie's Sports Bar which was just a gay bar with tvs playing sports LOL, and then a club called Town.

John Michael, another friend

Da club was interesting... there were 2 floors. The downstairs floor was obviously teen night or something & the upstairs was... I don't know..regular? There were go-go boys. It was fun! Although my warm warm sweater was a great choice for a steamy club ;)

the DC gang

I had such a blast in D.C. and really want to return soon! Next time I will be utilizing one of the bus options that leave from NYC. I highly recommend a visit!

Washington DC Part 1

2012-01-29T11:35:00.000-05:00

Hello! Well, what a few weeks it has been! Vince & I bounced down to DC where Vince fell and nearly broke his ankle, and I picked up food poisoning! That certainly made the remainder of the trip fun! Also, if you have never had a stomach bug and then driven in a car for 6 hours, I highly recommend it. Think of all the rest stops you're missing out on when you drive on by. Think of how the Popeye's Chicken smell would make you feel when queasy, or the joy of buying overpriced medicine. Yes, fun times indeed.

The actually D.C. trip was really fun though! We drove down on Thursday (missing most of the rest stops) and met up with our friend Melissa. She has the cutest apartment in Capital Hill & the cutest little friend named Tuesday.

Melissa's boyfriend Nat was nice enough to let us stay at his place in Chinatown (another awesome apartment!) We headed over, freshened up and went to dinner & drinks.

For dinner we went to District of Pi a great pizza place (cause you can never find good pizza in NY) and had yummy pizza & a ton of appetizers and craft beers. Afterwards we went to a bar called Lost Society. I was overwhelmed with desire to live in D.C. simply because of all the fun restaurants and bars. Again, I know I live in NYC but I think I feel a bit jaded about that. I really need to focus on finding fun, new places to dine and drink in my hometown.

Melissa & I!

Cool atmosphere of Lost Society

We headed back to the apartment pretty early since Friday was really our only full day to explore and Vince and I wanted to do some sightseeing during the day. We started our morning by heading to Melissa's office in the Capital Building. She took us around and we got a little behind the scenes tour of the place including getting to be ON the house of representatives floor! Where the president gives the State of the Union! That was pretty awesome...all the history and significance associated with that room. Cameras were banned. :(

Afterwards we had some lunch together. After our ~~healthy~~ road trip down, we were on a mission to put something green into our stomachs. We got salads at a cute place named Sweet Green. I'd never been so happy to have lettuce. ;)

Once we were fueled up, Melissa went back to work and Vince and I travelled over to the National Mall area where all the monuments were located. We both wanted to check out the new Martin Luther King Jr Memorial. It is a bit of a walk from where the train station let us out, but I really enjoyed the brisk walk!

The FDR & Jefferson Memorials were also over that way, so we did a walking loop of those. They are so pretty & filled with history and reverence. I loved getting to see them! Pete and I missed them when we visited D.C. last June.

me & my good friend FDR

Jefferson Memorial

We had such a blast walking around and being fit. :)

Vincemantha Who?

2012-01-17T13:08:00.000-05:00

Hey everyone! It feels like I've been super busy all year. jk only 2 weeks. I've been busy with work and also been prepping for my friend Vince's NY visit! Vince and I met when we worked together for a few months... jeez, 8 years ago this year....and have been friends ever since!

A few years ago he moved back to his hometown of Reno, NV. He did this because he loved spending money on air travel to see me.

In addition to him flying here, I have actually been to Reno twice. Plus we've met up in both Vegas and San Francisco and are headed to DC this weekend.

San Fran

I don't know what is going on here

One of my bridesmaid! ... Manmaid? idk

Vince flew in late Saturday night to the hell hole called "Newark Airport." I dragged Pete with me for the trip to Jersey in the middle of the night and I was SO GLAD I DID. The second you come out of the tunnel, all you pass are gas stations, abandoned construction-y road ways, a prison (seriously) and lots of areas that look perfect for dumping a body. Pete sang the theme song to the Sopranos which really entertained me.

Sunday a bunch of us went to our people's favorite past time, Brunch! We went to a place called Arte Cafe on the Upper West Side. I had been to this place once before and had a good experience and thought it would be good for our large group.

Plenty of champagne was had! Well, I had champagne. But sangria, Bellinis, mimosas & screwdrivers also flowed! Overall I liked this place. The food was really tasty (I got a buffalo mozzarella, pesto, pine nut sandwich thing) and the drinks were good but it took a LONG time for it to start flowing. Basically you add $16 to your meal for unlimited drinks. We had one drink and then ate and we still hadn't received our second drink by the time most of us were done eating! That was irritating. But once the second round came, I immediately ordered the 3rd, and people kept doing that until we got our moneys worth! haha :)

Afterwards we wandered around to different bars and had a blast!

stop playing with my hair

super turtleneck

I was so proud of myself because I stopped drinking in the early evening and switched to water. It's the little things! It really saved me the next day. :)

52 Breakfasts

2012-01-06T12:37:00.000-05:00

On New Year's Day I made good use of my BJ's Wholesale Club membership and stocked up on a bunch of healthy items.

52 Oatmeals!!

I'm sort of torn about having a membership to this place. After paying the annual fee and using coupons, I feel like it is only *maybe* worth it. The prices aren't that great after you factor in the annual fee. Plus Pete and I can only eat so much. Maybe it is better if you have a family....I'm really on the fence though. I will most likely not be renewing my membership in November.

That's not to say I don't turn into a maniac in the store, putting jars of pickles, cases of soda or hunks of meat in my cart. I totally turn into Mitchel from Modern Family. However, I scan my cart before checking out and usually put 1/2 of it back! LOL.

That being said, I am still really excited about the new Chobani 12 pack! The original one had Strawberry, Blueberry & Peach. I really enjoy the Peach but the other two I could take or leave.

Me?

This new pack has Pineapple, Blackberry (my 2 favorite flavors!) and Mango, which I've never tried. It was very exciting.

This week, I have alternated between oatmeal with chia seeds, or almond butter & banana on a sandwich thin. Breakfast is such an easy meal for me to be healthy with. Its the other two (mainly dinner) that I have issues with.

A little while back I tried regular almond butter and was disappointed with it. It tasted like... well.. almonds. Grainy almonds. However, the addition of chocolate really makes this something special & I fell in love with the flavor.

I was so excited when this lil guy popped up in my Christmas stocking from Santa Claus! :)

It's the little things :)

January Beach

2012-01-04T14:00:00.001-05:00

How is everyones new year going so far?? Mine has been going lovely! I've been super motivated about things, and lord knows I need to take advantage of this mood while I can! Let's back track a little though. How was your New Years Eve?

My plan for 2011's NYE was to be home with my husband, to be in comfy pants, to just chill and not really spend any money and to have a good time! I feel like I've become such a homebody over the past year (which I kinda love) and think this was a great ending to 2011.

We made some snacks including pigs in a blanket, frozen clams & chips and dip, we played Monopoly (I lost :p), we danced in the living room and drank! It was a great night in.

Even the girls had a NYE shot!

The next day Pete & I wanted to get out of the house and decided to go to the beach! We both had a good laugh when we pulled into the parking lot and saw about 100 other cars. I said to Pete, "I thought I was being original by suggesting the beach!" .... Then we laughed again when some woman passed us and said THE SAME THING. LOL. We are as unique as everyone else! ;)

It was CHILLY out there! Somehow I forgot that it would be cold near the water since it was so warm by our house.

2012 resolution - look like a crazy.

Visiting the beach just made me long for summer and to sit on the sand with a drink! Can't wait for more beach times this summer!

Deserted!

unibomber love

Shadow love

We finished up the day by coming home to a crock pot meal and renting Our Idiot Brother from Redbox. The movie was better than I thought it would be! And I love Redbox because it's only $1.31 a night. Yay to cheap dates!

2012

2012-01-03T13:26:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year everyone!

What better time than the start of a new year to set some New Years Resolutions for 2012?! What are your goals? Did you accomplish anything in 2011?

One thing I accomplished in 2011 was to read 50 books. FIFTY! I have a good 30 minute commute each way on the subway and always feel agitated and annoyed when I don't have a book with me! In years past I've always read about 20 books but last year I wanted to push myself and go for 50. I'm proud of myself for actually completing a goal, but happy the challenge is over. The time crunch of this goal prevented me from picking up any super long books. Books I've read in the past such as Pillars of the Earth or I Know This Much Is True would've been too time consuming. I'm looking forward to not having any pressure in regards to reading and diving into some LONG ASS BOOKS. Clearly, my language has improved from reading so much. Here is the link to all the titles I've read. These are my top 5 favorites. It's really hard to choose!

Top 5 Favorites:

The Help - Kathryn Stockett
Left Neglected - Lisa Genova

What Remains - Carole Radziwill

The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

American Wife - Curtis Sittenfeld

Special mention to the Hunger Games series and What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty.

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Here are my resolutions for 2012. I'm feeling pretty optimistic at the moment! Only 363 days left!! Make them count! ;)

Run a mile.
Run a 5k.
Create a working budget and stick. to. it.
Eliminate 1/3 of my debt.
Eliminate 25 percent of my body weight
Get off blood pressure medicine :P :P :P
Get a passport.
Blog 10x a month.

That is all for now. I'm sorta terrified at my list LOL. No, no... These are all achievable. Most are for health & stress and 2012 is the year I turn 30 which is even more incentive for me. What are your resolutions?

Christmas Round Up

2011-12-31T12:13:00.000-05:00

I wanted to share some of my Christmas photos!! I only snapped a few... my camera wound up dying one day. Plus it can be challenging photographing children.. They keep wiggling around!

The day before Christmas eve, Pete baked up a storm. Actually, he baked all week. Tuesday he made bar cookies, Thursday he made cookie doughs and Friday was spent baking everything off, icing things, cutting up bar cookies etc. I did so many dishes OMG.

Peach helped Daddy with the baking.

Lucy helped me wrap up the remaining presents.

Christmas Eve we went to Pete's sister's house. The tree was gorgeous and dinner yummy.

After dinner we attemped to build our first gingerbread house. Um... it didn't go so well!!

"you broke the wall!!"

Boy that icing is in there. Don't pop a vein!!!

Clearly Ella and I were focused on a photoshoot.

Who knew 2 adults, a crafty 10 year old and a 3 year old offering moral support couldn't get this to work!? I think we didnt let the foundation set. It kept falling apart and walls broke, it was a mess!! Habitat for Humanity houses are easier to build.

Sad sad sad.

Merry Chirstmas LOL.

Christmas Day and the next day were spent with my family and I don't really have any pictures from that since I left my camera at home. Lovely. But really, both days were super nice.

Here is our tree!

Peach enjoying the tree.

Last year we got a bunch of cute "First Married Christmas" ornaments.

This year I added a baking marshmellow. Not quite as cool as Mallowchrist. And some Rudolph. Love me some Rudolph!!

We tried to hang this kitty hot dog off the tree, but it was too heavy.

Finally- isn't this the cutest little thing ever? It's a bow for your Bath & Body soap!! Ahh! Love cute crap. :)

Hope you had a fantastic holiday!

December Wrap Up

2011-12-28T12:36:00.000-05:00

Hey! Merry Christmas! Happy Hanukkah! Happy Festivus! I know it's all over. This month has been super duper busy. My job has been insane - I've been working multiple nights until 9:30-10pm!! Ah! And just the general hustle and bustle of the holiday season has been so crazy this year! Time flew by and I was barely ready in time for Christmas Eve. Pete baked up a storm. An insane, sugary, wonderful, variety storm. I wrapped endlessly. Whew!

I think I'm just going to have some random babbles here. Ready? :
1) I went more than once to the Toys R Us in Times Square since it is 3 blocks from my office. Luckily once was early in the season and the other around 10pm, so both times weren't too insane.

My favorite thing about this Toys R Us is the giant T Rex on the second floor. This thing moves and roars and is pretty scary! And pretty awesome.

I also enjoyed the lifesized lego people. They had Captain Jack Sparrow, and tons of NYC skyline buildings. I wonder how long they took to build??

I also like "Frank Sinatra Barbie". I mean, what? I showed this picture to Pete and he was like "Boy, Sinatra's got quite a feminine body"... THEN he realized it was Barbie. LOL

2) MALLOWCHRIST!!

3) During Christmas shopping times, I saw this poor fella. He was just standing there, naked in the store. So I gave him the coat off my back.

Then Pete knocked him out.

4) I helped my sister celebrate her birthday by organizing a boozy birthday brunch down near Wall Street at a place called Smorgas.

I swear it is so picturesque down there. I felt like I was on a movie set!

L-R Jill, Stacey, Me, Dianna

Sisters <3

Amusing bathroom sign

I found this place to be quite charming. It was small inside so I was glad I made reservations and that we were only a group of 4 people. I would not recommend it for any larger groups.

The four of us managed to have a lovely time. We all ordered unlimited champagne & the server brought us over endless bottles of the bubbly and mixers. There was the traditional orange juice for mimosas and peach juice & some lingonberry jam that you could put in your drink as well. It was a tasty combo! The food was pretty darn good too. I'd definitely go back to this place!

5) Photo shoots with Brandon

6) One of Pete's Christmas gift to me was tickets to see Seth MacFarlane at the Highline Ballroom. For those of you unfamiliar, Seth is the creator of Family Guy, American Dad and the Cleveland Show. He also released an album recently of classic standard music which I am a big fan of!

The show was Seth accompanied with a 16 piece band.

I think Seth sounded great! Way better than on his album actually. He seemed more relaxed and like he was having a bit more fun just being up on stage, singing, and having some Jack D lol.

It was a really great night out. :)

That's all I have pictures of at the moment. I want to create some 2012 New Years goals. I'll be going that later this week. Enjoy the last week of 2011!