What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Hump Day, peeps!! It's Wednesday and that means it's time for another edition of What I'm Loving Wednesday with Jamie over at this kind of love!

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I'm loving that the weather is ridiculously nice today (and supposed to continue to be tomorrow) which means I will get some prime pool and reading time in! The ultimate in summer laziness!!

I'm loving that my new roommate and I were able to get our first roommate bonding night in. We went to a local wine bar, had a couple glasses of wine, bonded over past relationships, and just got to know each other. We had the bright idea of ordering pizza FROM the wine bar so that we didn't have to wait too long once we got back home (it got there 5 minutes after we did--genius), and then watched Real Housewives while we gorged on pizza. It was awesome!

I'm loving that my friend, Zai, is in town and is going to come by and visit today. Zai used to be my supervisor when I was interning at a school in grad school, and then just became a really good friend. He lives in Philly now and comes back to visit every now and again, and luckily, this trip, we'll get to hang for a bit! I love when friends come to visit!!

I'm loving that I'll hopefully get to see my buddy (old roommate), Genna soon. I'm hoping to be able to drive down to VA Beach for the holiday weekend and get to spend some time with her. It's been almost a week since she left and it's totally weird not being able to just hang out at night and talk about random stuff. I'm reeeeeally looking forward to seeing her (and her awesome, super fun family)!


There are tons of other things to be loving, but those are at the top of my list this week!
Hope you have some great things that you're loving!

Tuesday Cute-Day

Happiest of Tuesdays, everyone!

Not much is going on lately since I'm on summer break. I spent some time at the pool, did some reading, caught up on some DVR, and got a smoothie. Yeah, I'm living the life.

So, since not much is going on, I figured I'd do another installment of cuteness for your viewing pleasure! (all courtesy of Pinterest :

herrooo!

you know you'd wanna hug him too!!

I believe this one sums up how teachers feel during the summer...

Hope you all enjoyed the cuteness and are having great summer-time fun!

I'm off to do some reading on my deck....catch ya on the flip side!!

Date Weekend

Happy Monday, everyone!!

So, it's Monday, and I'm here to share my date night/weekend with you. Yes, date night kind of turned into date weekend....but don't get any dirty ideas--everything was PG!

Although the official date night (fancy dinner) was set for Friday, since my roommate had moved out that day, I was feeling a little lonely at home. My date (we'll call him MP from now on), MP, offered up hanging out, renting a movie, and making dinner together. This was totally up my alley, so we met up after he got off of work and made Mexican Lasagna (super easy and amazingly delish--thanks for the idea, Trish!!) He was even a good sport and watched the results show of So You Think You Can Dance with me...is he a keeper or what?? (And, Genna, if you're reading this, he actually let me WATCH it, without any dumb side commentary like a certain ex-someone *cough cough* haha). After SYTYCD, we rented No Strings Attached on  On Demand. It was cute, and offered up some nice couch cuddle time (hehe).

Friday morning MP ended up not having to work (a surgery was cancelled) so since it was gorgeous weather out, we decided to go for a hike at Great Falls in Virginia. Here are a few of the pictures from that:

And one more cutesy picture for good measure....

So, later that night was the "official" fancy date night. MP made reservations at the rooftop restaurant on top of the Kennedy Center in D.C. So, come 7ish, we met up and took a cab into the city for a nice, super quiet, delicious meal...

Before dinner 

After dinner...

So, I ended up not wearing the red wedges...they didn't look as dressy as I had wanted when I put them on...and now looking at the pictures I wish I had brought my purple clutch instead of the black one (oh well). 

After dinner, because we still weren't sick of each other, we went into Georgetown for a drink at Mie N Yu.  Besides my fashion oops, it was a really great night! I felt incredibly special, and it really gave us a chance to get to know each other more, spend time together, and just enjoy each other's company. I can't say there was anything about the night that I would have changed.

So, there you have it....I hope you enjoyed the date recap, and had some great weekends yourselves! Go link up with Meg for Mingle Monday and share some stuff!

My Friend

Happy Thursday, lovies!

Today brings with it a bittersweet tone for me....I'm writing this with tears in my eyes because I just watched someone who I have grown so close to, leave. A little bit ago, my roommate who turned into one of my best friends, drove out of our apartment complex parking lot. But, this time, it was with a car packed to the brim, and was for good.

She's off to do the things that she wants to do in her life, and to be with her family and other people who care a butt ton about her (yeah, I said butt ton). And, as I've said a few other times in my posts about this, I'm so happy for her! I know that she is going to go off and do amazing things with the kids who she will be teaching this coming school year, she's gonna get to be the available Aunt that she's been dying to be for the past year, and going to be able to spend time with the family who she has loved and missed.

But, in this moment, I'm still kind of stuck in: there's an empty room in my apartment where one of my besties used to live. Even Cooper is a little confused, wandering into the room he used to go into and rifle around in, and now there's nothing. He's looking for his playtime buddy who gave him love and pets, and she's not there. Sadly, I can relate to how Coop is feeling (minus getting pets...Genna never petted me haha).

So, I'm gonna try and stop being sad and concentrate on how absolutely blessed I was to have a coworker who turned into a roommate, who turned into one of the best friends I could have ever imagined. I'm incredibly lucky to have found a friend like you, Genna, who, even though we're no longer roommates, will be a friend for the rest of my life. I hope that you know just how much you mean to me, and how thankful I am for how you have always been there for me over the last year.

They say people come into your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime, and I can say that Genna has come into my life for several reasons, we lived together for what felt like only a short season, but I know that we will be friends for a lifetime. Love ya, Genna!

Our first picture together as roommates...I find it fitting :)

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Happy Wednesday, bloggie friends!  Since today's Wednesday, you know that means I'm linking up with Jamie at this kind of love for What I'm Loving Wednesday!

This Wednesday, I'm particularly loving that I'm on summer vacation!!! Monday I went back to my old school (they hadn't finished yet) to visit my coworkers, friends and kids there, which was really nice to see (I can't believe that the graduating 6th graders were 3rd graders when I started there!!) Yesterday was spent doing some cleaning of my apartment, sorting through old magazines I just hadn't gotten around to reading yet, reading my book, catching up on some daytime television, and taking Cooper for a long walk. Not a bad way to spend the first official day of summer!

On that note, I'm loving that Cooper has let me sleep in the last couple of days on my first days off. It's been mega nice to wake up on my own rather than to dog whimpers or an alarm clock.

I'm loving that I get to spend the day with my roommate before she leaves tomorrow morning to move back home to be with her family. I anticipate some of the day will be spent packing her things, but we have a roomie dinner planned to our favorite sushi place around here, and it'll be nice to spend a "last" day together as roommates. I'm not loving that she's leaving, but I AM loving that she's doing what makes her happy. Gonna miss you more than words can explain, Genna!

I'm loving that I'm in the process of booking a plane ticket to see one of my besties in Houston for a couple of weeks from now. I haven't been down to see where she lives since she moved down there, so this is the perfect opportunity. Perhaps not the smartest idea to go to Texas in the middle of summer, but my girl is worth it and I miss her to pieces.

Thinking this dress with red wedges...

I'm loving that I'm going on a date on Friday, complete with cute guy (my old roommate set us up), asking a week in advance about plans (omg, some boys actually still do that?!?!), saying he wanted to take me somewhere really nice for a night out. I think I already know what I'm going to wear, but might have to go through my closet and tear it apart, just to make sure what I have in mind is right (I'm such a girl). We've hung out a few times and he's really nice, so I'm definitely looking forward to it!



I'm sure there are some other things that I'm loving but I can't think of them right now since my stomach is rumbling for me to get off my lazy butt and make myself some breakfast! Hope you all are having great Wednesdays!

Dumb-Dumbs

No, I'm not talking to you about the candy Dum-Dums...

As I'm blogging to you from my summer vacation (which right now only includes my couch), this morning I'm already smacking my head at the stupidity of some of our famous people. I'm sure there is more dumb-ness going on in the world but within the last hour and a half of me being awake, I've already seen two stories on the news that makes me really question whether or not we, as an American people, are heading towards Idiocracy.

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First off, this. I know that the topic of illegal immigrants is a BIG hot button issue. Fine. But, you're going to blame WILD FIRES on illegal immigrants??? REALLY????  Now that McCain has brought this vital piece of information to my attention, I can't help but wonder how illegals are involved in the flooding of the Mississippi. I think McCain should assign a task force to look into that issue. And, oh my goodness, MAYBE they are responsible for the tornadoes, too! (I hope that my sarcasm is apparent in the last few statements...)
I think you need to stop smoking the crack pipe, McCain. But, well done on making yourself look like a complete jackhole.

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So, as I continue on with my morning, drinking coffee and eating some waffles, I see good ol' Latoya Jackson on the Today show, spouting off some conspiracy theory about MJ's death.  You could tell during the interview that Matt Lauer was thinking "uhh, really, woman?? WTF is wrong with you?" I don't understand the Jackson family. And I'm glad that I never will, because that means I've reached another level on the crazy continuum that I'd like to stay far far far away from!

I can only imagine what other kinds of looney-tunes antics I'll be hearing about as my day of lazy continues....

Hope your Tuesday is filled with a little less coo-coo than the above stories!

Jam Packed Weekend Recap

Hey all, Happy Monday!

I'm writing to you right now from my couch, with my feet up, watching the Today show (one of my guilty pleasures on my days off), with a rainy day outside and a cup of coffee on the coffee table. We will call this: Day 1 of Summer Vacation  hehe.

After this weekend, though, some rest and relaxation is warranted. This one was a weekend where I felt like it was non-stop GO GO GO! Friday night I went out with my roommate and some of her friends for their good-bye hang out with her. Was a lot of fun, but after a day of packing and moving (for both my roomie and I at work), we were both pretty tired and headed in around 11 that night. I didn't fall asleep for a little bit, and then it was back up right before 6 so that I could make it down to DC for the second annual Purple Stride event for pancreatic cancer. It was a big success and they raised over $274,000!

Since my mom was one of the people who helped to organize the event, I got to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes things that go into organizing these events. It was a ton of fun tho!

From there, I went to go to the Nationals game (still in my Purple Stride gear) to meet up with my roomie, and her brother and some of his friends who had come down to help move her big things back home. Unfortunately by the time I got there, I wasn't able to get a ticket where they were sitting, but I ran into my friend from work, Emily and her fiance Steve (the ones getting married in Turks and Caicos in September).

They were in a similar position as me (tickets were so expensive and it was already the 4th inning!) so we decided to hang out at the outdoor bar outside of the stadium, the Bullpen to watch the game on tvs and have some less expensive beers. Turned out to be great weather, relaxing and fun, and we ran into a group of men in their 50's and 60's from New York who go on a trip every year to go to different baseball games. You could tell that they were a great group, who were really good friends.  One of the guys had a hat from Turks and Caicos (where Em and Steve are getting married)---by the end of it, Steve was wearing this guy's hat, and the other guy had Steve's hat on. It was pretty priceless. Another one of the guys had a turtle tattoo modelled after my alma mater's mascot, Testudo the Turtle (their group's "mascot" was the turtle). See the pictures below:

Notice who has what hat...

Part of the group....after the hat trade..

 Tattoo modelled after Univ. Of Maryland's Testudo, with their mini mascot

Steve's permanent hat trade from our new friends.

Needless to say, it was an unexpected, totally random, completely fun afternoon. The rest of the evening went on with a night out in DC, and then a Sunday of recovery. Massive massive recovery.

I hope you all enjoyed the pictures and had fantastic weekends also!!

Friday Friday Friday

Hey all--happy almost weekend!!!

I'm not doing my typical Friday's Fancies post because we are in the midst of teacher conferences, mad dash of packing up offices, cleaning, and doing check out procedures at work. But I AM still linking up with {av} over at {long distance loving} for my own, slightly different edition of Friday's Fancies (involving volunteering for a great cause).....What I'm wearing for the main event this weekend isn't really fancy, but it's for a great cause:

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It will involve some and/or all of the above....read below to find out why....

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This weekend should have been a relaxing one as it's my first weekend off for the summer, but it is already jam packed. I'm tired just thinking about it haha. Tonight I'll be heading out with my roommate and a couple of her friends in the area, then I have to be up and downtown tomorrow morning by 7:30 am (shoot me) to help my mom with an event she's organized for pancreatic cancer through the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network  (http://www.pancan.org/) that she has been a huge part of since my Uncle was diagnosed and died from it back in 1996-1997. This walk, Purple Stride she helped to organize last year, but in the morning while setting up, she tripped and fell, broke her wrist and never got to see the fruits of her labor (a year later, and 10+ months of physical therapy, her wrist is still not 100% healed...ugh). So, since this will be the last event that she is organizing, she said that it would mean a lot to her if I came and helped out (nothing like a little mom guilt card...haha). This one will be to support her, and in memory of my Uncle Gary.

After the race, I may or may not be meeting up with my roomie and her brother/his friends for a baseball game (depends when I'm done and where theyre at), along with some potential touristy things in DC. And then I'm not sure what the plans are for the rest of the weekend but it might involve me passing out and being completely dead to the world.

Phew! I'm tired just writing about it all. Maybe in the amount of time that I did that, I could have come up with a fancy outfit, but the one I'll be wearing will mean a lot more than being "fancy" this weekend!

In the meantime, I hope you all have great Friday's and fabulous plans for a fun weekend! Catch ya on the flipside!!!

Schoooooooool's Out.......For Summer!

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Hey, lovies! Today brings some rain showers with a bright spot: it's the last day of school for the kiddos!!! We still have parent conferences tomorrow, but no kiddies after 1:15 pm today. I can't believe that it's already the end of the year. It's amazing how slow the year can feel, and then when you get to the end, you're like "wow....that was fast!"

So, today the school is buzzing with antsy children ready to get their summer breaks started.....and teachers who are just as antsy to do the same! (I think the teachers actually look forward to summer more than the kids do!)

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My summer is going to involve heading out to see some friends (one of
my besties in Houston who I have yet to go and see her place, a friend in NY who I haven't seen in over a year, hopefully going to visit my roomie who is leaving me next week--*sad face*--in VA Beach so we can get some quality friend time in, and who knows what else??) I also need to start making plans for the Turks and Caicos wedding weekend/vacay since I got my friend's wedding invitation in the mail yesterday!!! Can't wait to go and celebrate some good ol' love, all while being somewhere warm and tropical. Mmmmm!

Most of all, I'm just excited for some me-time this summer. Relaxing, doing things that I want to do, hanging out with fun people, meeting new ones, and just enjoying the break from the "everyday." Like I said in other posts, this is MY year, and I'm living it up to it's fullest as much as possible!

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Here's to the last day of school, and a ton of fun stuff to come!! Cheers!!

WILW

Happy Wednesday, bloggie friends! Since it's that time of the week again, I'm linking up with Jamie at this kind of love for What I'm Loving Wednesday....

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I'm loving that this is my 100th post since starting in the blog world! How far we/I have come during these past few months! Can't tell you all how much fun this has been, and how great it has been connecting with all of you  during this. It's been a great outlet, and a source of fun for me, so I look forward to what's to come! Thanks to all of you who read this each day...I'm really happy you're here and I love getting to know you guys!




I'm loving that there is one day left with kiddies (and it's a half day tomorrow) and on Friday I will be done with another school year. This year has had it's challenges but I feel like I've grown from them and have a better perspective to start the next school year off with. This time, since I'll know most of the kids I'm working with, I'll be able to hit the ground running from the get-go and hopefully make some real progress over the next school year. But, in the meantime, summer is looking mighty fine!!

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I'm loving that I'm finding that there really ARE good people out there. Sometimes it's hard to see it, especially in the area that I live (younger, career-focused/obsessed, ladder climbers, busy busy busy lifestyles), but they really are there. And, just like with anything else, sometimes it takes the right situation (like two people needing a place to live and becoming friends), or the right place or time to find those people who leave the footprints on your life.




Today's is a short list, but I feel like it's filled with really good, happy stuff!

Hope you're finding things to love today....go over, link up with Jamie, and share!!

Tuesday Cute-Day

Hey bloggie friends!

There's not a whole lot going on today....just packing up my office and getting paperwork done (only 2 more days with kids, and 1 day of conferences left before summer!!). I've had a couple of extra reasons to smile lately, so I thought we could do another happiness-infused post of cuteness to continue the smile-train! Here goes....(all images via Pinterest)

So fluffy and cute!

Even when you're not the same, you can still love and get along!

I just want to snuggle him!!! (he looks like a dog gnome)

I love how awkwardly cute he is!!

Hope this helped to bring a little bright spot to your day! I know I was smiling as I posted them hehe!