Baseball-Painting-Avengers

No, I don't mean Avengers who go around painting baseballs hehe. That's just the main synopsis of my weekend activities!

Baseball

On Saturday, MG and I went with a bunch of friends to go see the Nats and the Orioles play. We should have thought ahead and realized how crowded the game would be since it's our area's two baseball teams, and they are both doing pretty well so far. But, we didn't. Luckily we did buy tickets ahead of time (smarty pants, we are!) and decided to meet up with everyone at the Bullpen which is an outdoor bar area outside of the stadium. It used to look like this:

Well, we walked in and the little small area we knew as the Bullpen has now turned into a MASSIVE space with food vendors, tailgate games like cornhole, a stage with live bands/music. And, of course, booze. The area looked like it had increased about 10 fold, and was more like an outdoor concert area. 

This pic is one I found online and the area STILL goes on, in both directions! 

After we pulled ourselves away from the Bullpen area (which we easily could have stayed in and had a great time if we hadn't had tickets), we went inside to the game, but never did actually sit in our seats. Instead we stayed near the bar, watched the Nats lose to the O's, but had a great time with our friends! I even ran into a girl I went to HS with who happened to be right in front of me in the line for the bathroom (small world). Getting home after the game proved to be challenging, but we made it back safely....and with my wallet! :)

Painting

Sunday MG and I decided to tackle the beginning of painting the condo. We initially had decided on a light brown color to put on the walls in the dining room area so we got to work taping things off and painting. Once we painted the walls we wanted, we realized that the paint color we chose was not that far off from what was already on there, so off to Home Depot we went, again, to pick up a darker shade of paint.  

After putting on the first coat of the darker paint, we were immediately much happier with it. We still have to do another coat to clean up some of the areas (which is why tape is still up in these pics), but we are incredibly happy with it. It makes the condo feel so much homier than it did before!

We also held up the paintings that MG had on the walls before, just to see how they'd look with the new wall color and they look awesome! Can't wait til we're done with that wall (and the rest of the painting!) The place is definitely feeling more like it's "ours" :)  

Avengers

After a long morning/afternoon of painting and Home Depot runs, MG and I decided to see The Avengers, which we had both been hearing awesome things about and really wanted to see. It was reeeeeeeally good! I loved how all of the super hero characters were brought together and all of their story lines fit with the plot. I also loved that there were a lot of really funny/sarcastic parts. The graphics were cool, the actors were great, and we just loved it. I don't have enough good things to say about it. We didn't see this in 3D but we both agreed that it would definitely be one that would probably be worth seeing in 3D (we figured we'd spent enough money on paint and other painting products that we didn't need to spend more money than necessary on the movie tickets haha).

On the way home, the sun and the clouds were doing some crazy cool stuff in the sky, which may have been due to the solar eclipse. We couldn't really see the eclipse from our vantage point, but what we did see looked like the sky was on fire :

The pictures don't even do it justice!

All in all it was a busy, but really fun and productive weekend. Just counting down the work days til Memorial Day weekend!!

I hope you had a great weekend, too!

Friday Confessions

Oh em geeeeeeeezies, thank goodness it's finally Friday! I woke up Wednesday and Thursday morning thinking that it was Friday. And then this morning I woke up at 5:30 and legit thought it was Saturday morning. Then my conscious kicked in and let me know that I was deluded. Dang!

But, one more work day to make it through and then a nice weekend ahead! We can do it!!

In the meantime, I'm linking up with Leslie at A Blonde Ambition for Friday Confessions....

I confess that....

....I got jipped out of a jeans day at work. We have a "day of service" at my school to do community service, and nowhere in our staff notes did it mention a jeans day. So I followed the rules like an idiot a good girl, and wore dress pants. While every other teacher seems to have taken it upon themselves to roll up in jeans. NOT FAIR! This is what I get for being a rule follower. I feel like I need some kind of compensation! haha

.....MG's friends have suggested going camping towards the end of June/early July, and I am just NOT the camping girl.  I've never done it, and really never had a desire to do it. Plus, the two weekends they're tossing around are the weekend after we get back from the Shore, and the next weekend is my last one I have to move out of my place. So, at least I have an excuse! Running water and electricity for me!!! (Now, if it was "glamping" like on RH of Orange County, I'd be in!)

...I'm a little bummed, again, at the turn out for Trish and my Thirsty Thursday link up these past couple of weeks. :(

.....I need to get back on the workout train, pronto. Love handles and I just don't need to be friends.

.....I'm nervous I'm going to pick out/suggest the wrong paint color for MG's condo, and it's gonna be a hot mess of frustration. We've got the color down for the dining room, but are going back and forth with the bedroom color between two swatches. And the paint swatches we picked up for the living room are totally wrong.  Just don't want to pick something out, put forth all the effort to paint, and then have it be ugly and need to start all over again.

.....I had a little tinge of pleasure when I came home yesterday (to quickly pack my things and head over to MG's place) to find that the smoke alarm was beeping...like when it has low batteries. Needless to say I left, and I'm not sure if/how my roommate dealt with it. But it was nice thinking "Not my problem" and letting her have to deal with taking care of things for once. Maybe it distracted her from hiding more of my things in the apartment!

...I tried the Ben and Jerry's Raspberry Fudge Chunk Greek Frozen Yogurt last night and it was yumm!  MG has tried the Peanut Butter Banana one and said it was good (but since I am anti-banana, I did not decide to taste-test his) but I think he may have said that mine was better (after he ate massive spoonfuls of the chocolate chunks!....the butthead haha) It was the perfect sweet treat on a warm evening. Try them! I think you'll like em :)

....I still watch Grey's Anatomy, and last night's episode (which I think was the season finale) was INSANE. Dang those cliffhangers....I wanna know what happens, NOW!!!

....I'm glad it's the weekend!

Happy Friday!!!

Thirsty Thursday Virtual Happy Hour Link Up #5

It's Thursday, and you know what that means! Another edition of Thirsty Thursday, the lovely Trish and my virtual happy hour link up where you can post about ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you want, under the sun (or above the sun if you want! We don't judge!)

"What are we drinking today?" you ask. Let me tell you!

Watermelon-Cucumber Cooler

{via}

What you need:
-5 cups cubed seedless watermelon
-1 large English cucumber, peeled and cut into chunks
-1/4 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
-2 Tbsp honey
-2/3 cup vodka
-Cucumber slices for garnish
Directions

1. Set a large fine-mesh sieve over a large bowl or pitcher. In a food processor or blender, puree watermelon. Pour watermelon puree through sieve, pressing on solids with a rubber spatula (you should have about 2 cups juice). Puree English cucumber and pour through sieve into watermelon juice.
2. In a small bowl or measuring cup, stir together lime juice and honey. Add to watermelon and cucumber juices, along with vodka. Adjust sweetness with more honey if desired. To serve, fill four glasses with ice and top each with cocktail. Garnish with cucumber slices.

Mmmm, after all of the steamier days we've been having lately, this has "refreshing"  written all over it, to me! 

Now that we have our drink, What's on Your Mind?

Online Shopping

For one, I need to stop. I go through periods where I don't online shop at all (which means that I avoid looking at every email of all of the FAB deals going on that comes to my inbox), and then I seem to hit a period where I can't help but look at the deals....and subsequently purchase. A ton! I wrote before about some things I purchased, and the other day I got sucked into Loft's 40% deal and bought this guy to the right  ---->

Of course I justified that I can wear it to work, and it will go with just about anything (and it was only $23). But, I need to get a handle on things and close up that wallet! Memorizing my credit card number probably doesn't help either lol.

Working Out

Or maybe I should say "the lack thereof". I dunno what's up with me lately but I can NOT get motivated to hit the gym. Even the impending bathing suit season doesn't seem to rouse me into any kind of workout groove. Nothing! MG and I did, however, sign up for a yoga class that's nearby, and meets 2 times a week (altho we can go once a week if we want). I'm hoping that once we start those, maybe it will get my workout mojo going so that I can get back into the swing of things. I definitely don't want love handles and cottage cheese legs to be my buddies this summer! And you know, I did happen to get a new pair of yoga pants.....online (dangit!) a couple of weeks ago. This  should be the perfect excuse to put those bad boys to work!

Moving

Yesterday I sold my set of couches. It was a little bittersweet because this set was the first thing I purchased on my own (the first "big girl" purchase, if you will) when I moved out of my parents' place 5 years ago *tear*. It was a great set (as you can see) but there's no room for it at MG's place and it's not worth it to pay for storage. So onto Craigslist it went....and the same day I had someone interested who came by the next day! I got a pretty penny for it! But, guess what I found under the big couch when we moved it??? The bowl I have been missing for the last 3-4 months in my set of dishes. In a place where there's no way it was "accidentally" put there. Thanks, roommate! GRRRR. And I'm the psycho, right? Maybe I should have set it next to my roommate's pizza box still on the kitchen floor from March 10th. I kid you not. Come on July!!! :)

Travel

So, that whole potential trip to Austin, TX looks like it's out the window (pooey!) but Vegas might be on the table now. MG and I are going back and forth between whether or not it's worth it for a long weekend (I'd have to take off my last two days of work, and I have very few vacation days left at this point, is the cost worth the short time?) I'm bummed, because I've always wanted to go to Austin, but at least a trip might happen. And Vegas 
is fun, right? Sin city! 


I'm off to dream about vacations get back to work. It was fun happy hour'ing with you! Come back next week and spill on what's going on with you!

Don't forget to link up!

WILW and Oh How Pinteresting

Happy Hump Day! So excited that we've hit the half-way point of the week (altho admittedly, Friday would be that much sweeter).  So, I'm doing my two fav link ups of the week!

I'm loving that the weather in this area is supposed to clear up. It's been rain rain rain and I'm over it, over it, over it! Might even be able to catch a baseball game this weekend!

I'm loving that MG's pool opens this weekend! Wooohoo! Time to break out the bathing suits (oh crap, that means I need to go to the gym....whoops!)

I'm loving that MG and I are going to be looking at paint colors this weekend for his condo (should I say "our" condo?). We already know what colors we want to do for each room, but need to go and pick out exactly the right ones. If we get ambitious, we might actually get some of it started this weekend, too!

I'm loving that there is less than 2 months of living with roommate from Hades, and 19 days of school left for this school year. Can't come soon enough!!!

I'm loving that I found out that the school district I want to get into has 4 open positions. I submitted my resume on Monday, let my old supervisor know that I did (who said she would let the head of the department know), and am keeping my fingers crossed for an interview and good news!

I'm loving going through my camera on my phone and seeing old pictures of Cooper, especially ones with him and my old roommate and friend (who I miss tons and tons). They're so cute!!

And as always, I'm loving Pinterest and it's awesomeness!

This week I've been pinning....

Two of the colors in here are ones we are planning on using--one in the bedroom and one in the dining room. Can you guess which ones? :)  (When I looked at these on my work computer, they look different than they do on my home computer....boo)

Love this outfit, especially the dress! Want!

Crock Pot, Apple Cobbler cake mix I want to eat this. Like, now!

This is SO true....Case and point, above!!

Teehee, just too cute!

This just makes me laugh. If you have dogs, you get it.

What have you been pinning? Show me your stuff!!!

Laters, baby! ;) (yes, I'm still reading it...)

Philly weekend!

Hey friends! I'm back from a super fast, but incredibly fun weekend up in Philly! I'm so bummed to be back--the trip was great and it just went by too quickly!

MG and I with the girls before the show

Friday MG and I left work early to get on the road and avoid some traffic. We left at 1:30 and it took us FOREVER because traffic was insane due to an accident along our way. We were getting to the point where we were wondering if we were even going to be able to make it up to NJ in time for his niece's play. Luckily, traffic broke up after the first 2 1/2 hours in the car (that's how long it should have taken us to get there) and we made it in time!

Guys, let me tell you, I have never been so blown away by an 8 year old's performance before (and I'm not just saying that because she's his niece). She was incredible! And she was one of the only kids who had a solo who wasn't a 7th or 8th grader (she's in 2nd).   How so much voice came out of such a little girl, I have NO idea, but this girl is on her way to do very big and talented things, I can tell!

The whole play was a bit too long, and it was made to feel longer cuz the seats were kinda sucky and the sound system wasn't that great (it was in an gymnasium). But, we were so glad we made it up in time to catch the little shining star do her thing!

Look for this face in a few years....I have a feeling she'll be doing BIG things!

Even after the play, we were stopped by people who were sitting a couple of rows behind us, who asked how old she was, and said how incredible she did (see? it was just just us! haha). So proud of this little peanut!!

Saturday morning we were up and at 'em early so that we could catch MG's nephew and other niece's soccer and lacrosse games. The weather was absolutely beautiful....and someone might have gotten a bit of a sunburn on her nose (oops). 

In the afternoon, we went to an extended family member's party for their daughter who had just had her communion, so I met more of the extended family and re-saw some that I had met at MG's 30th birthday (many of which I didn't remember meeting cuz it was a bit overwhelming that time haha).

After that, we headed to the Phillies game against the Padres. We were 4 rows back from the field on the Padres' side, so the view was incredible and the weather was fantastic! See?

Unfortunately the Phillies didn't win, but we were annoyed "entertained" throughout the majority of the game by a group of mid 20something girls who were absolutely ridiculous. Cussing up a storm (despite sitting next to two older ladies), pulling their shirts down so their cleavage showed so they could get balls from the players as they came back into the dugout, loud obnoxious commentary to people around them. They were awful. And of course, the time that I choose to go to the bathroom is when I missed them getting escorted out by the police (dangit!) Apparently everyone in the area clapped and cheered when they were taken out.  One of the girls decided to bow....classy.

Despite them being rude and disgusting people, we had a really good time with MG's parents. The weather was beautiful and it was nice to spend some quality time with them (while drinking some beer and eating some yummy ballpark hotdogs...mmmm).

Sunday was Mother's Day so MG's one sister and brother in law came over with their 3 kids to have a mother's day brunch. MG and his brother in law manned the kitchen and cooked up a scrumptious spread of food. We had mimosas and chatted about all the things that are upcoming (his sister and brother-in-law turn 40 this week and are going away to Riviera Maya for 5 days...luckies!), roommate drama, and the details of MG and I moving in together (furniture, what we are painting, etc).

It was, as always, a lot of fun. Cooper had a blast playing with the kids, soaking up all of the love, attention and affection that he could muster. And then by 2 we were packing up to make the journey back to DC. Luckily traffic wasn't too terrible on the way back and we made it in about 3 hours.

It's a shame how quickly those weekends go by. MG's family is full of some of the nicest most caring people I have ever met. I love spending time with them, and appreciate how much they have opened their arms and hearts to me.  Love! :)

And now it's back to DC, work, and rain. Boo!

I hope you guys had a good weekend!

Friday Confessions

Oh Holy Moses, I am SO flippin excited that it's FINALLY Friday. Not only did yesterday start out feeling like a Friday, it ended feeling the same way which totally did not put me in the mindset to wake up and do another day of work!

But, now that it's here, I can let you in on a few of my confessions with Leslie at A Blonde Amibition:

I confess that...

.....I really like the Justin Bieber song 'Boyfriend'....and I'm slightly ashamed to admit it. My friend Trish pointed out that it sounds a lot like Justin Timberlake, which would explain why me likey!

....it annoys the bajeebus out of me when people sing to themselves on the metro or in other places where you are confined and can't escape. And these people are  inevitably those who should not ever be heard singing in the first place. I know YOU can't hear yourself, but the rest of us can....! The joys of commuting...

....I might be coming to visit Austin, TX in a few weeks (early June-ish)...I'll have more details soon, but all of you Austin peeps, look out for me!!

....we got another jeans day at work today and it makes me endlessly happy #littlethingsinlife

....since starting to read 50 Shades of Grey, I felt incredibly awkward knowing my mom was potentially going to read it (she's heard the hype about it and wanted to know what the big deal was). I promptly emailed and told her that it was dirty. She then emailed me back letting me know that Amazon has a return policy for e-books, so if I don't like it I should look into returning it (ever the concerned mom). "No no mom...it's fine for ME, I just don't want YOU to read that filth" haha.

 I think I dissuaded her...phew....

....the support I get from the blog world continues to amaze me. Sometimes having people share their own stories in relation to what you're going through just makes things make more sense. I continue to be astounded by just how many awesome people have come into my life because of this blog.

.....I was a tiny bit disappointed when I found out there would be no trips to get lobster mac and cheese this time up in Philly b/c MG's brother-in-law's extended family(did you follow that?) is having a dinner and invited everyone over. Is it sad that I was disappointed? Probably. But you haven't had that lobster mac! haha

.....I can't wait to move in with MG :)

I'm off to get my work done and head home so we can leave for Phillayyyyy!

Catch you peeps on Monday!

Thirsty Thursday #4

Soooo glad that it's Thursday because it means we're one day closer to the weekend, and also because it's time for another round of Thirty Thursday, hosted by myself and the amazeballs Trish!

You can share drinks, stories, meet old friends and new! So, what are you waiting for? :)

Link up!

What are we drinking today?

What you need: 

-3 oz. Sutter Home Moscato 
-1 oz. Vanilla vodka
-1 oz. strawberry soda
-Garnish with a strawberry


Shake Moscato and vanilla vodka with ice.
Pour into your favorite cocktail glass, top with strawberry soda. Garnish with a strawberry and raise a glass to your girls!

~.~.~

I dunno about you all, but that looks super easy, and like the perfect drink, anytime, but especially for a girl's night in....or a happy hour!!

So now that we know what we're drinking....

What's on your mind?

Summer!

As of today, there are 23 more days left of school (aka work) and I can not wait to be done with this school year, and hopefully this school (come on, new job!!). I have a running countdown on my whiteboard in my office as we speak. I think once we hit Memorial Day weekend, it will all happen super fast!

The Weekend

As you may have read in my post the other day, MG and I are making our way up to Philly this weekend. I'll be leaving work early on Friday (yay!) and we're gonna head up so that we can hopefully see his niece, who is 8, in a play with a bunch of high schoolers. She sings in a bunch of solos which is a big deal...esp since she is 8! The kids were all excited that we are coming and I'm looking forward to seeing all of them. We'll probably try and catch a Phillies game on Saturday and who knows what else! Maybe stop at that delish restaurant we went to last time and get myself some more lobster mac and cheese! Mmmmm! 

Friendship

Have you ever had a friend that you've had in your life for a long time? Like, almost as long as you can remember (or so it feels like), and then it seems like you don't, all of a sudden? Either because of life circumstances (being busy, work, etc) or because of something that happened that hurt one's feelings, or any number of things? I'm in a situation similar to this and I can't help but be sad. I feel like I've lost a friend who has been a big part of my life for over a decade. There were hurt feelings, but nothing that seemed insurmountable with some communication, and then there was no communication at all. It makes me feel like our relationship means/meant nothing, and it bothers me. This is a girl who would have for sure been in my wedding party whenever I got married. I guess I'm just unsure of how to deal with this. And it totally bums me out.

50 Shades of Grey

I've heard the hype. I'm sure you have, too. I looked into some reviews and saw some less than stellar ones, mainly about the author's writing style and I was put off by it. A few weeks later I saw a few more people on the blogs talking about how the love story (minus the weird kinky stuff) is a good one, and since I forgot what the reviews had said about the author's writing style (another instance of my forgetfulness....remember my wallet??) I figured I'd give it a whirl now that I'm done with Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter (which I thought was just okay). So far I've gotten to the first "juicy" scenes (no pun intended) and no really kinky stuff...(but the tie on the front cover makes more sense now!) I'm just trying to prepare myself for it. I had heard that the book is helping to save a lot of marriages, and as of now, I'm not sure why. Other than maybe it gets the ladies all hot and bothered? I have no idea. I'll let you know what I think of it when I'm done!

String Cheese
Dang I love that stuff...can't get enough of it! :)


Music
I saw this video posted on Life of Meg's blog yesterday and it is SO good. Love it.

Sums up how I feel about many things and people in my life ....

I guess it's time for me to leave our virtual happy hour and get back to work! Looking forward to seeing you all again next week so we can catch up!