The wait is almost over!

Only 4 more days until Moving Day!!! Eek! Sooooo excited! Saturday I planned on picking up new bedroom furniture and having the mattress delivered. Turned out to be the worst day to do this weather-wise. First snow of the season...in October?! Yikes. So not ready for this.

Lulu and I were very appreciative of this. We got to stay in the car with the heat on & snuggled under a blanket ;)

Furniture picked out and cleverly loaded into my little car, we headed to the new house. Every time I show up there, something new has been done to the house. It is VERY exciting. Not so funny story: My Lulu is NOT a fan of having wet feet. She's in for a rude awakening this winter. We're not in Florida anymore Babe! So not five minutes after I had her outside, we're standing around talking with the new landlord, aka Mr. J. and I smell this wicked stench. Dear God please don't let it be what I think it is. Turning around, yep, less than a foot behind me is the foulest turd ever. #mostembarassingmoment....thankfully he was a good sport about it. We then proceed to unload the million and one boxes the bed and bureau came in...in the rain/snow/sleet mixture. Delightful I tell you. I ran out to pick up some things, food included, while the boy got to work....

Lulu stayed to supervise.

oooh and I also got to take a fun trip back to Ikea to pick up the mid-beam that "someone" forgot ;) I'm not sure how.....

Now when I tell you that he REALLY loves doing this stuff, I'm not lying. It's true. He even said it. Unfortunately you can't really get that feeling from this picture.

The finished products:

I helped with the bureau a little bit and only had to re-do something once :) Success! I am EXTREMELY thankful for my boy's help. It probably would have taken me three days, one bottle of ibuprofen, and a couple bottles of wine to reduce my blood pressure if I had had to do it on my own. XOXO

Whirlwind

Once again, this week has been a whirlwind of cr@p that just makes me love life: food, friends, and boyfriend (que?!)
Um, let's start with food.... I've finally mastered the pork chop as best as I can. I've been at it for over a year now, and I finally feel that I've gotten as good at it as I will ever be. Marinated for 24 hrs and baked at 350 for 1 hour then broiled for about 5 minutes on each side. Along with the most savory, orgasmic classic risotto I've ever placed in my mouth.

The finished product. Yeah.....I'm amazing. The way to a man's heart is through is stomach right?....In this case, it's really about how much I can make my taste buds dance. Right, Nikki?! ;) 

Spending nights with the boy & my best girl make me extremely content.

Add in some FaceTime with the Seesdor and I couldn't be happier :) 

We always have the best, most informative/interesting conversations ever....especially if one of us (ahem, most likely me) is under the influence of the "special juice".  I loooove her!

Friday night was a night spent out with some of my favs. I consumed a different flavor of mussels at my most favorite place, hung out with some amazing gf's, and watched our team fail in Game 5. Thankfully being in the company of some awesome people dulled the pain of not witnessing the crazy excitement I wished to see in my city. 

Saturday I woke up early, much to the dismay of the boy, yelling to shut off the d@mn alarm; it was time for the thing I've been most looking forward too... For years I've been wanting to take care of the situation in my mouth....No, not the crooked-ness that the dentist so politely pointed out...it was time for whitening! I lurve money saving sites, such as Living Social & Groupon. I found a great deal for teeth whitening and snatched it up in a heart beat. 4 15-min sessions & extreme discomfort later...

 Pearly-whites. :D As you can see...I'm happy. 

Long after I expected to have left this appointment, I made the trip to Elizabeth, NJ. I'm extremely thankfully for the friends I have & the things they do for me. One particular friend did me a righteous favor and brought some things from Florida up to NJ. To him I'm extremely thankful!!! I don't really know how else I would have gotten these items....it would have most likely cost me a good chunk of moooo-lah.

Four-ish hours of sleep, 2.5 hours of mouth torture, over 3 hours of driving later...I was ready for either coffee....which I wasn't allowed to have after the whitening....or a serious nap. The latter occurred for a good 3 hours. AHHHHH...I've finally gotten my sleeping abilities back. After which I was awaken by the boy, acquired a milkshake, and headed back to bed for another good 12 hours...Ah...I have the good life.

I was especially in a good mood today. It was a gorgeous day out & I took a much desired trip to Ikea. By far my most favorite place on earth. I'm getting more & more excited as the days go on to move into this house. 

Special thanks to my momma for the free shipping code to West Elm. I'd pretty much given up on this duvet. But now my dreams have become a reality....I love when things fall into place!

Speaking of which....In the past few weeks, I've gotten a job, which they love me (expressed on Friday ;), made some amazing new room purchases, and entered into a relationship with one of the best friends I've had for long time. My life continues to amaze me every single day. 

Fab Five Friday

5 Things That I Find Awesome:

5. The center of a cinnamon roll

4. When the slow car in front of you finally moves out of the way

3. Getting carded even when you're way over the legal age

2. When someone accidentally snorts while laughing, causing you to laugh even harder

1. Finding that someone that gives you the good stomach butterflies

Have a great weekend! XoXo

 

Wild Woman

Ridiculously bad hair day.

Due in part to not having time to fully dry my hair. Boo.

Roller-coaster Ride

Lately it seems that my emotions take drastic turns from extreme happiness to tears of sadness. Briefly thought it was a case of post-menstrual syndrome (sorry guys)...but its doubtful.

 If you keep up with this blog you know how I've expressed how joyful I've been since moving back north. Different parts of my life seem to be coming together to make me whole again. I knew I needed to make a move, but didn't understand the severity of it until it actually happened.

This morning I was walking the couple blocks to work feeling like I was on cloud nine, simply loving life, when I saw something that brought my feet down to solid ground. By no means am I a naive sap...I'm not easily moved, but this time was different. I watched two people pass by a homeless man in a wheelchair, both greeting him with a giant smile and slipping money into his hand. The ease in this exchange made me realize this probably happened every day as they trekked to work. This was just the reminder I needed to look into volunteering with the organization I dealt with in Florida.

So my emotions have been up, spiraling down to humbling ground, back up, and then crashing down again with the news of a loss in the family. This news hit me harder than I would have imagined. Maybe it was the events that took place, reminding me of my fear of being alone?....whatever the case, it was an indication to thank God for the friends & family that surround me.

Live life to the fullest; Give back what you can; and Never take anyone or anything for granted.

xoxo

The End

Tonight was my first night running in the cold...like ever. It was followed by wicked shin splints. That's the end of that.

Guess it's just me & Jillian for a while.

Life Lessons

There is nothing to hold you back, except yourself.

We are our own worst enemies. We are human and far from perfect. Realizing this, it's sometimes harder than others to be the person I strive to be.

Say what you mean. Mean what you say.

I firmly believe in this. Never feel like you are obligated to say anything you don't really mean, or do anything you don't want to actually do. It can be more hurtful to hear a lie than to hear nothing at all.

Don’t say to anyone unless you can say to everyone.

One we may need to remind ourselves (Clears throat...looks in mirror) I'll be the first to admit that I love to hear about drama...but put me directly involved and I turn into a non-eating, feeling like I'm gonna puke, nervous wreck. It's just not for this girl. 

Don’t say inside, what you cannot say outside.

Let's be serious. We all do it. There's always one thing about ourselves we want to change. The hard part is embracing yourself as is. If it's too embarrassing or ugly to say to someone else why say it to yourself? Who's it really helping? Exactly. No one.

Don’t say unless it is true, useful or kind.

Pretty self-explanatory. I've been known to admit that I am not a people person. I think we can be the dumbest creatures on earth. But never in any circumstance do I believe it is okay to be rude and/or hurtful to another dumb creature. We all have feelings, some more sensitive than others. 

For me, it all comes down to being able to look at myself in the mirror at the end of the day and being proud of the person looking back. 

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe it's October already! I feel like it was the other day that it was August and I was making the trip to NJ...but no. Time has flown. I'm a week & a half into the real world. Picking paint colors for my new room. Dazzling my boss & co-workers with my amazing abilities. And pretty much having the time of my life.

As usual, I will recap all with photos. People make fun of me for snapping pics of my food (or others) before I eat it. But I don't care. It's pretty.

Last night I feasted at Distrito. The place was super cool inside.

I really wish we could have eaten at this table.

FYI: White Sangria & Mango Mojito's were Jacki-tested & Approved!

It's basically a Mexican Tapas place. Huge fan of tapas. Anywhere I can taste test multiple dishes is ok with me. 

Mahi-mahi tacos

I think these were my absolute favorite.

Carnitas

Chicken enchilada...very tasty (but mine might be better!) & black beans and rice

It was a great time with yummy food & awesome people :)

Check back every other week for another restaurant review. 

This past week was my first full week of work. Exhausting I tell ya. But went pretty well. They're amazed by my brilliance & talent. Not shocking. I am pretty great at whatever I set my mind to. <--Confidence, not cocky. 

                                    

Making myself right at home. 

Hmm...what else is new...Moving date is approaching quickly! I picked out my paint color for my bedroom today. Chocolate Brown. It's 'licious. I'm gonna go with a neutrally brown color scheme with accents of red. Let the shopping extravaganza begin! I'm shifting my focus from clothing to bed & bath. In all honesty I'm sure there won't be too big of a shift. I can't control myself from snagging up cute clothes. It's an addiction. The first step is admittance right?

Well that's all for now. Time to catch up on some laundry and other things I neglect during the week. I feel like I'll reward myself for my accomplishments with a nice relaxing glass of wine tonight.

xoxo <3