On Monday one of my best friends, KT came over for a fun Memorial Day dinner with M and I. It was so great to catch up with her (it has been a few weeks since I had seen her) and we got to reminscing about our "theme" dinners that we used to have all the time when I lived in my old apartment. Pretty much every few Wednesday nights the girls and I would get together at my place and cook dinner together based off some sort of theme. We did a Twilight themed dinner where we made food from the movie and then Twilight inspired recipes from online... then we went to see the premier of I don't even remember which of the movies. We did a breakfast for dinner night one night before Easter and keeping with the "breakfast" theme we died Easter eggs as a group. We used to have so much fun with these nights and it was a great excuse for all of us to get together and unwind. Well KT and I have decided that we are going to bring those nights back this summer... and in preparation for that today's #tbt is dedicated to Theme Night Dinners with some of my favorite ladies!!
Opening the champagne outside because we were so terrible at it
Breaking out the big guns... standing mixer
This was our Twilight themed dinner... mushroom ravioli
Vampire Fan cupcakes
Breakfast for dinner!
Easter Eggs!
LOVE these ladies... though we may not all still live super close to each other, they still remain some of my best friends in the entire world!
Have you ever done theme night dinners with friends? What were some of your favorite themes?
In between all of the beach time, pool time, BBQs, etc. please take a moment to remember the meaning behind today. Although I have never personally lost anyone to war or anyone who was serving protecting our country, today is about honoring and remembering those who gave their lives so that we may know what freedom is. So thank you to all of the men and women who have given their lives for us... but also a big thank you to those who are currently serving in the military... it is because of those who sacrificed their lives for our country and because of those who are currently serving that we can call ourselves the land of the free.
Since last week I did a throw back to my law school graduation, it is only fair that this week I do a throwback to my college graduation. Although I technically (according to my diploma) graduated from Bucknell on January 20, 2007, I did walk in my graduation in May. My parents told me I had to walk in graduation because they hadn't paid all that money for me to go to school to not see me walk across the stage and receive a fake diploma!
Hubby & I 7 years ago when we graduated from Bucknell!
A family of Bucknellians... that's right... now all 4 of us have graduated from Bucknell!
Bucknell ladies... cause yes, that is right my Aunt, Grammy & Mom are all Bucknellians too!
Does throwing back to your graduation from high school, college, grad school, etc. make you as nostalgic as it makes me?
Erin over at Love, The Campbells has a "blog every day in May" challenge going on right now, and while I haven't really been participating in the challenge, I have been reading her blog daily and I LOVED the "Taking Stock" post that she did yesterday, so I figured, why not link up with her on this one and do one of my own!
Making: Just finished making a wreath for my front door... not bad for one of the few crafting projects I have done since graduating college 7 years ago!
Cooking: Agave Balsamic Salmon... got the recipe here from Whitey over at I Wore Yoga Pants
Drinking: French Vanilla Iced Coffee from WaWa... hubby gave me his leftover gift card... gotta use it on something!
Reading:Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin ... have had a super hard time getting into this book and of course it is over 700 pages so it is taking me FOREVER to read! Finally more than halfway done though, so there is hope I will finish it in the next week or so!
Wanting: To go back to Europe... more specifically to go back to Spain. Missing Granada and life there so much right about now!
Looking: For a new job... my current one stinks and I REALLY need to get out of there before I lose what little sanity I have left!
Playing: Words with Friends... so addicted (easmith007 is my username if you too are addicted and would like to play me!)
Wasting: My education.
Sewing: Nothing... I can't sew for my life. I think the hubby is actually better at sewing than I am.
Wishing: That I knew what I wanted to do with my life.
Enjoying: Having a day off from work after a longggggg night last night!
Waiting: For my hubby to come home from work so we can spend a little time together before I go off to Zumba tonight.
Liking: The color I got on my nails today... it is called "Princesses Rule" Light pink with a hint of sparkles... yup, right up my ally!
Wondering: If I am going to get one of the jobs I have interviewed for recently.
Loving: That spring weather is finally here and that I have been able to start planting my flowers!
Hoping: The the weather is nice on Saturday because we are supposed to go to a BBQ and then a goodbye party for one of my bff's before she leaves for Argentina for 5 weeks!
Marveling: At how quickly time is going by. We are almost halfway through 2014... M and I have been married for over 7 months... one of my bff's is about to have a baby even though it feels like she just told me she was pregnant. CRAZY!
Needing: Zumba and some time with my ladies tonight. Need to take out my stress somehow!
Smelling: Rain on a Spring day!
Wearing: Yoga pants and my favorite Chi Omega t-shirt
Following: Way too many blogs as a result of entering contests on them. I am going to have to go through and see which ones I truly like and then go from there.
Noticing: That Spring really is here now that flowers are blooming, waking up to birds chirping, and and overall brightness in people's moods!
Knowing: That I need to finish this post before the hubby gets home from work so that we can spend a bit of time together before Zumba.
Thinking: About whether or not I want to go back to school to facilitate a complete career change.
Feeling: Uncertain about where my future will take me
Bookmarking: Recipes on Pinterest... we need some new recipes in our lives!
Opening: Mail reminding me that I need to fill out my NJ attorney registration so that should a job come up I am still eligible to practice law in NJ.
Giggling: Watching my favorite video which can always put a smile on my face... Giraffe in Quicksand baby!
Feeling: Grateful that I have such an amazing support system in my family and friends! I have been feeling really down about things recently and they have all been there to support me and try to lift me up when I feel like I am lost.
Have you "Taken Stock" recently? I'd love to hear what is going on with you!
One of my best friends loves Oatmeal Chocolate Chip cookies and thought her sister made them for her during a baking spree, but was disappointed to find out that they were in fact oatmeal raisin cookies. Since I knew I had an event coming up that I was planning to bake for I decided that I would make oatmeal chocolate chip cookies so that I could surprise her with some at work the next time that we worked together! I brought a bunch to work and they were a hit, so I figured I would share the recipe with all of you!
Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Ingredients:
1 c. butter, softened
1 c. sugar
1 c. packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. oats
2 c. chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate)
Directions:
1. In large bowl cream butter until light and fluffy.
2. Beat in eggs and vanilla.
3. Combine baking soda, baking powder and salt in medium bowl.
4. Add flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well.
Recently I have been struggling. Sure when I blog it may seem like my life is all sunshine and roses, but I assure you, that is NOT the case. Recently I have been struggling. Sure you may think my life is all flowers and sunshine (especially if you follow my Instagram) because I post pictures like these of my gorgeous flowers I just planted:
or of the fabulous beer can chicken the hubby and I made for dinner on Saturday night...
or my yummy alcoholic beverages....
But in reality, life has been tough recently. Tough because I went on a job interview and the one woman I interviewed with told me that had my resume come across her desk without my husband's recommendation she would have thrown it in the trash without a second thought. She told me I was too overqualified for the job in which I was applying and that basically because of my education no employer would ever consider me for an entry level job. She told me I needed to find a way to "dumb down" my resume or I will never get anywhere in the corporate world. Talk about a blow to one's self-esteem... the one thing I am most proud of, my education, is what could potentially be holding me back from getting a job... how is that even possible?!
Don't worry though friends, even though this got me down, it doesn't mean that I am down for the count. After hearing this I decided to take matters into my own hands and made an appointment to discuss my resume with someone from Bucknell. I am happy to report that after an hour long phone conversation today I have a completely revamped resume and a new plan for how I am going to go about looking for a job. To say that Bucknell's Career Development Center has been amazing would be an understatement. They have been WAYYYY more helpful to me than my law school has and I am so grateful that I went to such an amazing undergraduate institution that cares so much about not only its students, but also its alumnae! After today I am confident that I will find a job and I will get myself started down a career path that will carry me on through the rest of my life.
Besides the whole job thing, I have also been struggling a bit with my personal life. About a month ago I got the text that one of my ex-bffs had her first child. As happy as I was to see that she had a beautiful, happy, healthy baby, the text also made me incredibly sad and in fact made me cry. You see, since our huge falling out this is only the second major life event that I have not been able to share with her. We had been friends since right before our freshman year of high school... we were there for each other through graduations, breakups, engagements, her wedding, etc. I had always thought that she would be one of my life long friends and that we would end up having kids who would be best friends (even though we live a million miles apart). I would have dropped pretty much anything to be there for this girl and it just hurt so much to realize that it isn't the case anymore. I found out she was pregnant through another mutual friend, found out she had the baby though a mutual friend, etc. Sure it is great that our mutual friends let me know what is going on in her life because no matter what she thinks I will always care about her, but it doesn't make it any easier.
I have thought about reaching out to her to say congrats, but I don't want her to take it the wrong way and to think that I am doing this just to ruin this special time in her life. Because that really is the last thing that I want to do. Having a child, especially your first, is supposed to be a joyous occasion and I do NOT want to ruin that for her, but I do want her to know that I am happy for her and that I truly only wish her and her little family the best. So I am torn about what to do... do I send her a quick text message or e-mail saying congrats, or do I just leave well enough alone? Who knows, she might think that her life is better off without me, although I am not sure that mine is better off without her because I do still miss her friendship. I still remember all the good times that we had together and it is pretty much impossible to erase her from my life.
I recently stumbled upon this Facebook status I had made a year or so ago (thank you TimeHop App for my phone) and it really makes me think about this friendship gone bad. Was she meant to be in my entire life, or was she just meant to make an appearance? Seeing as we had been friends since about 1999 it makes me feel as though she was supposed to be in my entire life, but who knows, maybe 14 years is all our friendship was meant to last. Whatever the case may be, it still hurts and I still don't know what to do. Do I reach out to her and hope for the best? Or do I just leave well enough alone?
What has been going on in your life lately? Have you ever had a situation where a friendship went sour and you didn't know if/how to fix it?
