#tbt... First Christmas with my Girls

Last night as I was watching the Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting ceremony it got me thinking about the first Christmas that I spent with my girls after I had moved down this way for law school.  While watching the Rockettes perform it made me think back to our crazy party complete with peppermint patty shots (done the right way a.k.a. the Bucknell way), posing like the Rockettes, drinking champagne, elf and santa hats, and overall just an amazing time with some of the best friends a girl could ask for.  Although we have all moved at one point or another... some of us moving quite far away from each other (N to San Diego, L to D.C., K moved to N.C. but is finally back with us)... we have all still remained a great group of friends and I am so thankful that I have them all in my life.  So this post is for you ladies... here's to our first Christmas together and here's to one day all of us having enough money to be able to once again get together and repeat this wonderful party!! I still have my elf hat and will be ready to go!! 

Always opening the champagne outside on my front porch because we were terrible at it

Santas having some fun

Some of the best friends a girl could ever ask for!

We are silly and a ton of fun!

We elves decided to show the Santas how to have some fun

Shot glasses for peppermint patty shots?!  I don't think so ;-)

Rockette Pose

The "right" way to do a peppermint patty shot

Have you ever had a holiday party with a group of your closest friends you wish you could relive?

Delicious Dish Tuesday... Crock Pot Beer Can Chicken

It's been a couple weeks since I have participated in  a Delicious Dish Tuesday link up, so I figured it was high time I post another recipe on here.  Delicious Dish Tuesday is a weekly link up hosted by Mary at Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Alesha at Full Time Mama, and Amanda at Coping with Frugality.  I have found so many fantastic recipes through this link up, and have even had the honor of being the featured recipe twice!!

Everyone knows I am pretty much obsessed with crock pot recipes... Crock Pot BBQ Chicken, Stouted Pork & Kraut, Firey Chile Beef, and Smothered Beef Patties... just to name a few of the ones I have posted in the past.  Today I am going to share with you yet another quick and easy crock pot recipe.  This is a go-to recipe in our house when I need something that I can make when I have to work and want to cook for the hubby.  The crock pot beer can chicken takes pretty much 5 minutes to throw together and after some hours in the crock pot you have a delicious home cooked meal!

Crock Pot Beer Can Chicken

Ingredients:
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 can beer (I used Guiness this past time... but have used a ton of different beers in the past)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Directions:
1. Spray your crock pot with non-stick cooking spray
2. Place all ingredients in the crock pot (I even throw the chicken in frozen!)

3. Cook on  high for 4-5 hours.
4. Enjoy!!

Do you have any quick and easy crock pot recipes?

Monograms are a Girl's Best Friend

This post is sponsored by Marley Lilly.  Though I received a scarf to review on my blog, all thoughts and opinions are my own. 

Everyone who knows me, KNOWS that I love my monograms.  Once I was getting married and accepted the fact that I was going to change my last name, I was all about getting my new monogram put on things.  I first discovered Marley Lilly when I was looking for bridesmaid gifts for the girls in my wedding.  I  knew that I had wanted to get them monogrammed pashminas and that is where I stumbled upon Marley Lilly.  I was able to get my bridesmaids, and myself the most amazing orange and blue pashminas... plus monogrammed a bunch of other stuff for myself with my new initials!

Orange with Blue Monogrammed Pashminas I gave as a bridesmaid gift

Having fun using our pashminas as capes

Rocking our pashminas... The bridesmaids all had orange with a blue monogram and I had navy with an orange monogram

Fast forward to about a month ago when I discovered that Marley Lilly was looking for bloggers to be sort of a brand ambassador them... I KNEW I had to apply.  I knew that my blog is on the smaller side, but I was determined to give it a shot anyway.  Imagine my surprise when one day I came home from a HORRIBLE shift at work to find that I had a package from Marley Lilly waiting for me on the dining room table.  I knew that my husband hadn't ordered me anything (he doesn't understand my monogram fascination) and I knew that I hadn't ordered anything recently, so I was soooo excited to open it and find that out of hundreds of people who applied, I had been chosen to participate!! *cue me shrieking and jumping up and down for joy* (and side note, all of this was happening at about 3am... I think my husband wanted to kill me)

If there is one thing I may love more than monograms, it may be scarves.  I was so happy to see that for my first product review I received a Cashmere Feel Scarf from Marley Lilly.  One of the first things I noticed when I took the scarf out of the bag was how soft it was.  The website describes the scarf as:

"Made of a super soft acrylic material, they feel warm and cozy against your skin and help block the cold on those nippy fall and winter days. "

Marley Lilly's description of the scarf couldn't be more spot on because this scarf is literally one of the softest scarves I have ever known and definitely lives up to its name of "cashmere feel".  You get the feeling of cashmere for a much more reasonable price of only $22.99.  

The next thing I fell in love with was the pattern.  I received a taupe chevron scarf with a brown monogram in the female style with a master circle script monogram (this pattern is actually currently sold out on the website, BUT if you love it as much as I did you can request that they notify you as soon as it is back in stock... I highly recommend doing that!).  I was really excited about the color because I don't actually have a scarf in that color and I immediately thought of so many outfits that I could pair it with.

Close up of the chevron pattern and my monogram... absolutely love the detail in it!

I have worn this scarf I can't even tell you how much since I received it... It may be my new favorite thing to wear.  And for the price of only $22.99 you can bet that I will be investing in a few more of these to wear since winter seems to have come early this year with temperatures this week being in the 40s for the high!

Now I am still not the best with these fashion blog type posts, but I did manage to convince my hubby to go outside and take a few pics of me modeling the scarf for you all!  I promise I will get better at taking these fashion pictures, but for now I think I did a pretty good job!

Looks great draped around my neck paired with a sweater, jeans and moccasins for a casual look 

Love the two tones of the scarf... that the chevron pattern in the back is smaller than the one on the front side of the scarf

I usually tie my scarves this way when I am wearing a jacket... helps keep my neck a lot warmer

This scarf is definitely a winner in my book! Super soft and keeps my neck warm on these cold Philly days we have been having recently.  I would highly recommend you get online and order yourself one of these babies... or just put in on your holiday list for someone to get for you. I promise you, you won't regret the decision to invest in one of these babies!!

PS, Don't forget to check out Marley Lilly on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!  They have some amazing Flash Sales and all sorts of deals posted on their social media pages, so be sure to take advantage of them... I know I do!!

What are your thoughts on monograms?

Have you ever shopped at Marley Lilly before?

#tbt... Birthday Twins 1st Birthday Celebration

When I first started working at Friday's I met two of my best friends there.  During our journey towards becoming besties we discovered that JG and I had birthdays only 2 days apart so we dubbed ourselves the "Birthday Twins" and began starting to celebrate our birthdays together.  Although the past few years due to crazy schedules we have started to move away from celebrating our birthdays together, but that doesn't mean that I don't look back on those first few birthday celebrations fondly.  So today's #tbt is going to be dedicated to the first time we celebrated our birthdays together!!

Birthday Twins in an awkward prom pose

Birthday cake one of my co-workers made for me

Best friends out celebrating our birthday

Do you have anyone you consider your "Birthday Twin"?

Random Things You Should Know if We Are Going to be BFFs... Part 3

Well today is the day... the day I turn the Big 3-0!  Yup, that's right today I officially leave my 20s and enter the wonderful world of my 30s.  I hear that the 30s are the new 20s so hopefully that means that I have another decade of fun left in me! In continuing my birthday week posts where you all get to know me a little bit better, I figured that it was time for another installment of  "If We're Going to be BFFs, You Should Know..." where I tell you a bunch of random facts about myself that not everyone knows about me. (If you missed parts 1 and 2, you can find them here and here) 

one// I applied to colleges as a history major, but I never actually took a history class during my time at Bucknell.  I fell in love with my political science freshman seminar and never looked back.

two// I applied Early Decision to The College of William and Mary, but they somehow "misplaced" my application.  I decided it was fate and that I was not supposed to go there, so I switched my application to Early Decision II at Bucknell and never looked back! 

My 1st Day on Campus as a Bucknell Freshman... posing with the little bro & the 07 balloons

three// Crickets may be the scariest bug on the face of the planet.

four// I am allergic to lilies and have a very hard time in the grocery store around Easter.

five// When my little brother was only a few months old I wrote his name on the ceiling of the car and told my parents that he did it.

six// I was "that kid" that read under the covers with a flashlight so my parents wouldn't know how late I was up reading.

seven// I won the Dennis Vanderhoff School Citizenship Award in 5th grade and my name is on a plaque in my elementary school. Can we say nerd alert lol

eight// I was a Sunday School teacher and Vacation Bible School teacher at my church from the time I got confirmed until I left for college.

nine// My 1st true BFF is still to this day one of my BFFs (she was even MOH in my wedding) despite living hours away and not getting to talk to each other much. 

Love my first grade bff

ten// I am mildly obsessed with Zumba. 

Can't tell you how many times I have used this statement...

What are some random facts I may not know about YOU?

Blogger Men Tell All... Thanksgiving Edition

Seeing as it is my birthday week and you all are getting to know me a little bit better this week, I figure this is also a good time for you to get to know my husband a little bit better.  We missed the Blogger Men Tell all link-up last month as the husband was in the UK and I just didn't get around to asking him the questions before he left... blogger fail.  BUT this month, though it has been crazy, we are both around and I have gotten him to answer these questions AND I am linking up ON TIME... blogging miracle!

So once again I am linking up with Samantha over at The Samantha Life, Becca over at Becoming Adorrable and Melissa over at Daily Chaos in order to get my husband a little bit more involved in this little blog of mine.

Me & the hubby... he always makes that face when I ask him to take selfies... I think he purposely tries to ruin them!

one// What food do you look forward to most at Thanksgiving dinner?
Mark: Pie.
Me: Any particular type of pie?
Mark: Nope. All pie.

two// Do you ever go shopping on Black Friday?
Mark: Once in a while. We haven't anymore because we have been driving around.
Me: I think he is referring to the fact that we are always traveling on the holidays so don't really have time to Black Friday Shop.

three// What's your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
Mark: I don't know. Having turkey.

four// Do you travel for the Thanksgiving holiday or stay close to home?
Mark: We travel. 

five// What are you most thankful for this year?
Mark: You. 
Me: I'm waiting for more.
Mark: That's it.
Me: Are you sure there isn't anything else?
Mark: Yup. Is there something else I should be thankful for?

Once again my husband is a man of few words on here, but I swear in real life he does talk a bunch.  Maybe after he does a few more of these I'll get him to give more than one word answers without me having to ask follow up questions. 

What do you think is your significant other's favorite Thanksgiving tradition?

Golden Vlog #3... All About Turkey Day

Good Morning friends!! It is that time again... Golden Vlog Time!!! Actually Golden Vlog time was almost two weeks ago, but once again I didn't get my act together and am a little bit late to the Vlogging game.  But hey, better late than never, right?!  Since it is my birthday week I figured this was the PERFECT time to do this Vlog so that you can get to know me a little bit better and so that I can talk about my favorite holiday... THANKSGIVING.

The Golden Vlog series is a monthly series hosted by my good friend Elizabeth over at Elizabeth Loves, along with Faith at Life with Mrs. G & the Artist. Bex at butcher's niche, and Sarah at 12 Twenty Seven.  Every month they put together a series of questions for us to answer in a Vlog form... this way you get to know us as a person not only through our writing, but also through our spoken word.  Plus, I mean it is kind of cool to actually see and hear the bloggers you are following instead of just reading what they have to say.  Come on friends, you can't tell me that if you don't actually know me in real life that you don't kind of wonder what I sound like?? ;-)  Anyways, this month the prompt was all about Thanksgiving and this month's questions were:
one// What is your favorite Thanksgiving tradition?
two// Do you travel to family or do they travel to you?
three// Do you have the traditional Thanksgiving dinner or do something completely unique to your family? If so, what?
four// What's the must have item for Thanksgiving dinner?
five// Do you decorate for Christmas Thanksgiving weekend?
six// Are you a Black-Friday shopper or no? If so, do you go crazy early or sleep in and miss the crowds?
seven// Have a favorite recipe? Care to share?
eight// What are you most thankful for this year?

So without further ado....

What are some of your favorite Thanksgiving traditions?

PS, Don't forget to head over to the link up and check out some of the other amazing Vlogs!!