Happy New Year!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!!

Wishing everyone a safe, happy, healthy, rich, kind, loving, exciting, eventful new year!!

Here we go...

2014!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merry Christmas!!

To all that celebrate this week…I am wishing you and your families a very Merry Christmas this year! I

hope you were all on the nice list and Santa brings you what you wished for!   J

 

 

 

 

Five on Friday!

                                       

 

one :: Is Christmas really in a few days?!! What the heck happened to December?! I feel like I have
only just started to enjoy the season and it has already passed in a blink of an eye! Yeesh life slow
down!!

                                    

 

two :: On a more positive note, as tradition goes, me and the boy have a hotel reservation in the city tonight! Every year for the last 3 years we have booked a room in the city, walked around Rockefeller Center to see the tree, Macy's window displays, ice skating in Bryant Park and all the other holiday festivities going on in New York City. I am so excited to just relax and see what we get into tonight. I'm in the city every single day but it's so nice to just relax and not have to run around and meet someone or run to work.

 

 

                (Rockefeller Center 2012)                                                (Bryant Park 2012) 

 

three :: Tomorrow is Dad's birthday! The old man is... well getting old. Shhh! Just kidding Dad! He
and my mom were supposed to join us in the city but he was unable to get off work on Saturday. Poor
guy can't even catch a break on his big day. We are going to all meet for dinner back in Jersey to
celebrate him! As much as he drives me crazy and I hate to admit how much alike we are, I love him
dearly and I wish him the happiest day ever!
 

four :: We still do NOT have New Year's Eve plans!! What the heck is that about! I am a avid planner
and this panics me more than anything. It is a pain in the big ol' booty to make reservations or find
some place to still get into the closer it gets to the big celebration and I am getting pretty nervous we
have no figured this out yet! Hopefully this weekend we can make some serious plans and I cannot
stress 7 days a week!! o_o
 

                                        

 

five :: As 2013 comes to end I am so excited to jump into 2014! 2013 has been a pretty interesting year;
 not the worst year but not my favorite year. I am SOO looking forward to 2014 and seeing all that life
has to bring! BRING IT ON!!

                                         

z100 Jingleball 2013

Last Friday night we were invited to JINGLEBALL! For those of you who don't know what this is, I

 explain. Jingleball is a concert hosted by a NY radio station that occurs right before Christmas...hence

 "jingle". This concert has been occurring every year for as long as I can remember. I went once before

 in high school and me and 3 other friends were picked to sit front row! It was pretty amazing! Basically

 the show consists of about 12 different music groups/singers that play about 4 songs each.

 

SO we ended up going on Friday with two of our friends and I was surprised at how much fun I had. I

hate to admit this but at first I didn't know how much fun I was going to have because I didn't know a

few of the people. (Yes I felt terribly OLD) Waaahh! Anyway, as sad as it was that I didn't know some

 of the acts... who the heck is Fifth Harmony?!! I still had sooo much fun! We danced the entire night

and screamed out hearts out. I definitely let my inner 12 yr old teenie-bopper show a little.. okay a lot! I

 had recorded a few videos on my phone but all you really hear is bass and us singing...no bueno. So

you can go to their website and see the performances here.

 

I also took about 200 pictures! Again the quality is not great being it was on my cell phone, the lighting

 didn't help and I was jumping up and down half the time! Ha!

 

 

Thank you terrible lighting..however kind of creepy cool :)

 

Fall Out Boy

Pitbul

Playing with big balloons during Enrique.

Paramore

Macklemore and Ray Lewis

 

And then this happened..

 

 

The Crew!

 

 

I love this guy.

 

 

 

Obviously this was only some of the picture. The other performers were Fifth Harmony, Austin

Mahone, Jason Derulo, Ariana Grande, Robin Thicke and R Kelly made a guest appearance. There

were also other celebrities announcing the acts like Jordin Sparks, Ryan Seacrest, Kellan Lutz, Lindsey

Lohan and all of the radio crew. It turned out to be a pretty great night! I love spur of the moment

things!

 

 

 



Taste of Tuesday: Holiday Treats

In the spirit of Christmas, I have been anxiously waiting for the day I can devour all of my favorite little treats made. I come from an Italian family, so we mostly focus on the actual meal of the day and make sure it’s huge, delicious and we make enough to feed an army. Don’t get me wrong, no matter what we eat; there is always room for dessert!

So here is a few of my favorite holiday treats that I cannot wait to get my hands on!

         

 

 

       

 

 

 

Linking up with Ashley and Jessica!

 

 

 

 

Exhausted & Prayers

I was so ready to recap my eventful weekend, but we ended up in the hospital at 2:30 this morning for

 the boy. He was having some chest pains and wanted to get checked out.

So I'm pretty exhausted since I had to come home and get right in the shower for work.

I won't get into too much detail but everything is okay and we were sent home.

 

I ask you keep him in your prayers and I'll be back and energized tomorrow! :)

Five on Friday!

 

 

 

one :: THANK GOD IT’S FRIDAY! I hate to be a Debbie Downer but this week was such a drag

and I never thought me and my buddy Friday were ever going to hang out again! Even though we have

things planned for the weekend, I’m hoping my internal clock will let me sleep till at least 10 tomorrow!

 Yeesh!

 

 

two :: As I still consider myself pretty new to the blog world and I learn all about this world I jumped

into, I am really starting to love it! I have met some pretty great ladies already and I love linking up and

 following all you cuties with your recopies, decorations and everyday business. I started getting into the

 groove of planning a lot of my posts so hopefully I can get into a routine of that and make this an

 everyday thang! Wish me luck!

 

three :: Christmas is right around the corner! I can’t freaking believe it!!! Part of me feels like it’s not

 even close to being Christmas I want life to just slow down a little bit! I haven’t really had time to enjoy

 the season and embrace the festiveness that is Christmas! What the heck time, please take it easy on

me.
 

 

four :: I am a little sad because we had plans to visit 4 little monkeys (the boy’s nephews) YES 4 but we

had to cancel because we already made plans for my dad’s birthday next weekend. We don’t get to see

them very often since they live down in Virginia Beach so it was sad when we had to tell them we

weren’t coming down. Especially since it is Christmas and I love seeing their silly smiles when they are

opening all their presents. We sent down our presents for them to open on Christmas and after the

holidays when we head down we will be able to watch the home video and see how excited they were!

Miss these cuties!  

five :: This week we had our first snow fall! Actually, it started off as an ice fall, and then the next day we got about 3 inches of snow. Not too bad but it was coming down like it was never going to end. See below for a picture of my view from my office. Normally you can see across the river to the Jersey side, which is beautiful BTW, but as you can see there is not much to see but the building that is directly next to us, like 30 feet away next to us. CRAY-ZAY!

 

 

 

Hope everyone stays warm this weekend!

Bikram Yoga

I had never been a big yoga person. Actually, I never participated in anything yoga-ish in my life, until I was introduced to "hot yoga" or Bikram Yoga last summer. I think the idea of just stretching, breathing and meditating just never described "workout" to me. I always thought of a good workout as running a few miles, weight lifting for an hour and sweating your ass off till you puke! Well, let me tell you how WRONG I was. I attended a class with a friend just to keep her company, because she obviously dragged me. It was the dead heat of summer, July, and it was already HOT out. The last thing I wanted to do after an 8 1/2 hour day of work was get dressed to sweat in a room full of people at 105 degrees. But like a trooper I put on my yoga pants, which have never been to yoga before, and went.

Let.me.tell.you. Wooffff! It was probably one of the most challenging workouts I have ever participated in. I was hot, sweaty, my heart was pounding like nobody's business and when I walked out of there, I knew my muscles would be feeling it in the morning.

I can honestly say, I really liked it - loved it. Yes it was hot, but not the hot you might imagine it would be. Like I said, they crank up the heat to about 105 degrees and about 40% humidity but it is more of a dry heat rather than sitting in the scorching sun. A lot of people are intimidated by hot yoga, same as I was, so I figured I would explain some of the things people don't really know about it and why hot yoga is oh so good for you!

What you don't know...

1. It's hot, but not the kind of hot you would imagine. It is definitely tolerable and you sweat your butt off. Who doesn't feel good after a nice sweat!

2. If you do feel like it is too hot for you, you can always lay down and just breathe. Instructors actually encourage you to stay in the room the entire time so you don't shock your body by going from extreme heat to the outside. You can do it!

3. Ice water is great to have. I bring in one bottle of ice water into the studio and I don't even drink half of it while I'm in there. The instructor gives you a few breaks, but of course you can take them at anytime. The best time to drink water is all day long before class, and the next day.

4. You burn the same amount of calories as you would after a good jog. Enough said.

5. You don't need to be the most flexible or advanced yogi to participate. All classes range from beginner to advanced, it's all about making sure you do what's best for your body.


Why Bikram is good for you...

1. Your body is using muscles and stretching like other workout's can't do. I have noticed my body sore in different places I didn't even know I was working on. You are increasing your flexibility which will also reduce your risk for injury during other physical activities.

2. Yoga is good for your digestive system, cardiovascular improvements, respiratory efficiency, improve posture, strength, energy levels, immunity, balance and functioning of all body parts.

3. Believe it or not, it is relaxing. It will help relieve stress and tension and help you focus on the movements in the moment rather than any other distractions going on in your busy life.

4. Sleep habits increase. I have noticed that when I practice hot yoga, I am much more relaxed and sleep so much better at night. I always had a hard time falling asleep and then I would wake up once of twice in the middle of the night. Now I fall asleep easily and I don't wake until my alarm goes off...sometimes after.

5. Yoga improves your immune system, especially in the winter. When you are sweating, you are detoxing your body of all the toxins, germs and bad things that have entered your system. In the winter everyone is always sick or has some sort of cold floating around. Or when we walk outside in the cold we are so quick to hug our arms around our chest and hunch our shoulders to try and keep the warmth in. While practicing hot yoga you have the opportunity to open your chest, relax your shoulders and improve your posture. You are ridding your body of the toxins and keeping yourself healthy.

I hope this helps with some confusion about hot yoga being good, bad, hard, impossible. This all all based on my opinion and things I have learned while practicing. Please note I am no expert, I'm not advanced and have not been practicing for a long period of time, but I truly believe I have improved myself and my well being.

Ugly Sweaters

I had never heard of this "Ugly Sweater" craze until I started college (7..cough, cough, years ago). Now it

 has gotten out of control with how creative and festive ugly sweaters have become. If you have never

heard of this before I shall explain.

 

People have decided to embrace the ugly sweaters Grandma knitted for you growing up and the iron

on decals Aunt Bertha thought would look just absolutely adorable on you for Christmas pictures.

Well, now there are even website (see here) that you can order and ugly sweater to wear to a party.

source

Yes, Ugly Sweater Parties! Whether at college, or still embracing those college years and throwing a

party at your home, these parties have also embraced the craze! I have been to a few of these and I

must say it is pretty hysterical seeing everyone is a ridiculous sweater. It makes for an interesting theme

and lots of conversation.

 

We have been planning on attending one at our friends apartment this December and I can't wait to get

 my sweater together. I plan on making something ridiculously... ugly.

Has anyone ever done this before?

Taste of Tuesday: Holiday Cookies!

Every year we divulge in making our traditional holiday cookies! This year was no exception. I decided

to make a little extra and bring in some cute holiday cookies for my team at work. I made chocolate

chip and sugar (to avoid any allergies) and here is the receipe for the sugar cookies! They are SOOO

easy to make and they are just melt in your mouth good!!

 

Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

                    1 teaspoon baking soda

                    1 stick butter, softened

                    1 1/2 cups of white sugar

                    2 egg yolks

                    1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, baking soda, vanilla and butter in a bowl. Slowly

add each egg at a time. Then slowly add in the flour while mixing. Once it has a dough consistancy,

take out of bowl and roll out into 1/4in thick sheet. Select cookie cutter preference or roll into 1/2 balls.

 Bake for about 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool approx. 5-10 minutes. Ice and sprinkle

as desired!

 

 

 

 

That's all folks! I was so tried by the end of this from cooking after a long day of work so I just shoved the cookies in cute little holiday bags I picked up at Walmart and delivered them to everyone's desk! Perfect holiday treat!

 

 

 

Linking up with Ashley and Jessica!

 

 

 

 

Five on Friday!

 

one :: Now that Thanksgiving is ovaaa...bring on Christmas everything!!! I am in love with peppermint lattes, red bows; gold accents the smell of pine trees! Swooning over Christmas NO.JOKE. As they say, it's the most wonderful time of the year!!

two :: Tonight is my high school football teams State Championship Game at Giant Stadium! I had the great pleasure of taking a half day at work so I can head over to the stadium early and pre-game get a good seat to watch! It's supposed to be pretty cold and our stadium has no dome so it will be winter at its finest. We are playing the same team we played my senior year in the stadium so it will be quite a matchup to see!

source

 

 

three :: Thanks to online shopping and all the sales that occurred last weekend I am pretty much DONE with my Christmas shopping! Hoooraaayyy! I still have a few tiny things to pick up but the bulk is done and I so happy I didn't have to fight the good fight at the busy malls. I am also making a few presents so stay tuned for that!


four :: Have I ever mentioned how much I LOVE hot yoga! I used to go like twice a week last year but like all great workouts I started slacking and then life got the best of me. I have started back up after my absurd eating habits on t-day and I cannot understand how I ever stopped! It is relaxing yet challenging and my heart beats like I just sprinted away from a serial killer but I truly love it. When I first walk into the studio I am so glad I made it there and I feel even better when I walk out. If you have any studios near your I highly suggest you check it out.


five :: This weekend, for the first year ever, we are skipping the line a Lowe's and heading out to the west and cutting down our own Christmas Tree this year! Growing up, my parents always took us down the highway to whatever tree lot looked the best and we picked out our tree then. Once me and the little brother moved out and went off to college my parents figured it would just be easier to have a fake one. Wrong. Oh were they wrong, we were devastated when they got a fake tree but for the last several years a fake one has appears every year since. So for the boys humble abode we are cutting down fresh and I can't wait to add it to our list of holiday traditions. If I actually can stand the cold. I can almost guarantee he will pull a Clark Griswold and my eyes will freeze open!

 

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Take What You Need

 

I saw this the other day on Instagram and I thought it was so inspiring!

If you read my Thankful Post,

you will see I discussed how I am thankful that there are still

so many kind hearted people in the world.

 

source

 

 inspire . be kind . love 

Thanksgiving Weekend!

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday! 

After eating leftover for the last 4 days, and turkey salad wrap for lunch today I am officially over turkey. I will take the sides all day long, but turkey I bid you farewell. I can’t wait to have a nice piece of steak for dinner tonight! 

End.Of.Rant.  

This weekend was relaxing and fun and a little chilly! Wednesday we were able to leave work super early to start off the weekend! Waahooo! Except, this little lady missed the midday train home and had to sit in the station for over an hour. Fun. To add to all the fun I was having on Wednesday, I was not feeling well AT ALL. Sick & missing the train…4 day weekend couldn’t have happened at a better time. After a much needed nap, I got all dolled up and headed out to our local bar for Thanksgiving Eve Celebrations! 

Every year, the biggest party night of the year, we all head out to the bars to drink spend time with friends and see old friends we haven't seen all year, or in years. We originally planned on staying just for a few hours and then heading home early so we could wake up and run into the city to watch the Macy's Parade Live! Please read below for outcome.

Of course we were will these cuties and my cutie gave my the honor of a quick pic between talking.

 

For some reason we thought it was hysterical that I was given this glass to drink from all night. Strange but kinda funny. I guess. If you were there. Haha!

 

And after that, the next thing we knew it was 3:00am and we were closing the bar!! Whaat?!! So much for getting home early to be up early. Unfortunately, we didn't make it to the parade, but I guess we picked a good year to miss it since the wind was pretty bad and some of the balloons weren't brought out. Next year it is on!

So I ended up watching it on the couch with my pup, and my dad as tradition goes.

We always host Thanksgiving at our house every year, and this year was no different. Except for our little 'field trip' we had to take. After the fam showed up, all 20 something of us, we had some apps and all piled in the car to drive about 6 minutes from the house to my cousins brand new brewery!!!

My beer loving, home beer brewing cousin has finally signed a lease on a building where he will open up his own brewery!

Home of Brix City Brewery!!!

 

I am so unbelievably proud of him for this amazing accomplishment. I only got a shot of the warehouse portion of the place but there will also be a bar for tasting and hanging out. This please was so big and beautiful, even though it was empty! Hahaa! But I can totally visualize all the equipment in place and people touring all day long! If you are ever in the area please let me know we would love for you to come by! I am working on my craft beer vocabulary and will hopefully be behind the bar!

Every Thanksgiving we have our annual Football Takedown! We move all the cars from in front of the house, mark the two telephone poles as the end zone and hope for no injuries! This year, since it was quite chilly and it was a pretty awesome idea, we decided to have our game in the "dome"...or the empty warehouse! It was soo much fun to play in there and run around like we were little kids. All the pictures are on my uncles camera as I was too busy kicking some butt! But you can imagine the laughs and the nonsense that went on.

Thank god for the game because we all built up an appetite for winner winner turkey dinner!! I suck and there are no food pictures! Like I said, we built up some serious appetites! For desert we celebrate Gram's birthday! She is the cutest and the head honcho of the family and it was great we were all there to celebrate!

Another tradition we have in our family is Holiday Poker! Every holiday after we are fat and plump we sit around the table and play a game of Texas Hold'em. Unfortunately, I did not win this year (I killed it last year though!) but it still a lot of fun. We are always joking around with each other, laughing at the outcome or yelling at the football game in the background. No matter what, we alway have so much fun!

 This year after everyone left, my cousin and aunt stayed behind for an extra glass of wine and some girl time. We decided to have a throwback game of Spit. Has anyone ever played this when you were yonger? We always used to play, and my cousin would always beat me! Not this time! I have finally won a game of Spit and it has never felt so good!  

Friday, we avoided the malls at all costs! I feel like if I wasn't buying some sort of electronics or an abundance of toys, everything I needed to buy could be purchased online. Thank god for that technology! Instead me and the boy helped my cousin move her bed out of her condo since she will now have renters in there! We were still in a slight turkey coma and couldn't figure out how we were going to get it back to her house since it didn't fit in the pick up truck we had. That boy of mine is quite brilliant and recommended we head to Home Depot to get one of those trucks you can rent. WELL it was quite a comedy skit! We were strapped in the front seat, the only seat I might add, like a bunch of construction workers headed to a job!

As you can see I was hysterical laughing the entire time! What usually takes about a 15 minute ride felt like a 45 minute ride in that dang thing! It was a pretty comical adventure driving that thing and moving an already assembled bed.

Friday night, our town has their Annual Holiday Parade. Another tradition we have is the Friday after Thanksgiving, we always have T-day #2 at the boys house since his grandmother lives 4 houses from our main street where the parade takes place. Holiday's are much more fun when there are kiddies running around with excitement. We only have one little guy in our family and Luke has like 10! (or it feel like it!)

Personally, I felt like the parade was terr-eee-blee!! I don't know what's going on here people but it was not pretty. Here are a few pics, and a few not because we were lazy, but because this was pretty much all we saw! As long as the kid's loved it, I guess all was good.

After that we went out for a few drinks with friends and watched my ducks kick some Beaver Butt! It was a very close game and my nerves were on edge. Hey a win is a win : )

 

Speaking of winning, Giants had a big win this weekend as well!! 

Thank god they pulled that one off!

Saturday and Sunday were spent running errands, online shopping, hot yoga and relaxing! After all that excitement a relaxing end to the weekend was definately necessary!

Sorry for the long post! Lots of exciting things to share!