#tbt... My Law School Graduation

Exactly 4 years ago, on May 15, 2010, I graduated from law school with my J.D. and pro bono distinction for completing over 60 hours of pro bono service during my time in law school.  Since graduating from law school I have passed the NJ bar exam, yet am still trying to find my niche in the legal world.  4 years post law school my life is definitely NOT where I thought it would be... If you had asked me when I started law school where I would be 4 years out I would have told you that I would be practicing in some major NYC law firm and living in Manhattan.  Alas, that is not the case... I am still bartending and still in search of a career (legal or not).  Although my life is not where I expected it to be at this point I am still super proud of myself for finishing law school... it was a MAJOR accomplishment!  So without further ado... a little throw back to my law school graduation!

Hubby & I at my law school graduation

With 2 of my favorite guys!

I am an Esq!

Family

Cara Box REVEAL

That's right friends... it is that time again... Cara Box REVEAL time!! As most of you know I have been participating in the Cara Box exchange since last August and for the most part it has been a wonderful experience for me (You can read about my past experiences here, here and here).  I have met so many wonderful women through the exchange and have without a doubt made some new friends for life in them. 

For those of you who don't know what the Cara Box Exchange is, it was started by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals as a way to "Make Friends... Receive Gifts... Share Encouragement".  It is basically like having a pen pal the way we did in elementary school... we write e-mails back and forth... read each others' blogs (if your partner has one)... comment on Instagram photos... tweet... etc. Then in the end after getting to know your partners you said a box of gifts to one partner and receive a box of gifts from the other.  The exchange occurs quarterly which gives us plenty of time to get to know each other and create the PERFECT boxes for one another! 

This time around I was paired up with Kyla from Colorado and Alicia who is from California.  Our task this quarter was to create a box for our partners with the theme of where we live.

This quarter I sent a box to Alicia all the way in California.  Alicia is around my age and has an adorable little girl.  She is a SAHM who has her own daycare business so that she can be home for her daughter to watch her grow up.  I failed miserably at making Alicia's box "Philly" themed, but I did make sure to include things in the box that hopefully the entire family would be able to enjoy.  I even put my "crafting" skills to use and made Alicia a few things. 

The only picture I have of what went in Alicia's Box...This did not turn out exactly as I had hoped, but for my first time "crafting" in years I don't think it turned out too bad.  And I guess it kinda fits with the theme because it was "Handmade in Philly by me"

I received a box this time around from Kyla who is a teacher in Colorado.  Kyla and I are kindred spirits in that we both just got married recently and are navigating the waters of newly wed life.  Kyla is actually from the suburbs of Denver and I actually visited her little town when I was out there on a family vacation YEARS ago.  Kyla is also my kindred spirit because she is pretty much just as owl obsessed as I am.  One of the first things I noticed when we were first paired up and I was stalking her Instagram was the insane amount of owl things she had... we even have the SAME owl coffee mug!  

This is our owl mug... so random that we both have this!

Kyla did a great job with the theme... definitely came up with creative ways to incorporate it into a box that I absolutely LOVE! 

Kyla sent me a journal that says "Live a Colorful Life" on the front because apparently when  you come into Colorado there is a sign that says "Welcome to Colorful Colorado" and apparently that sign is a really ugly brown.  But Kyla swears (& I know from visiting the state) that Colorado does have some GORGEOUS sunsets so that must be where the "colorful" part comes from!   She also sent me a variety pack of Celestial Seasonings tea as it is made in Colorado (I had no idea) and says that if I ever come to visit their factory is a MUST see (in her words).  I definitely want to take the hubby out to Denver at some point, so this may just have to go on our list of places to visit.

Knowing how much M and I love craft beer, Kyla sent us some postcards from New Belgium brewing that she thought we could use as coasters.

Now, of course she couldn't let my owl obsession go unnoticed... so she sent me some hand sanitizer that came in a container shaped like an owl.  Then probably one of my favorite things is my owl lawn decoration.  Kyla says that people in Colorado are notorious for having yard decorations, mostly gnomes, but she thought I would appreciate an owl more than a gnome and she couldn't have been more right!

Lastly Kyla collects t-shirts from all of the places that she visits, so she sent me my very own Colorado t-shirt!  Can't wait to wear it and pretend that I just got back from visiting the fabulous state of Colorado!!

Once again I had a positive experience with the Cara Box exchange and I look forward to keeping in touch with both Alicia and Kyla in the future!! 

Quick and Easy... Bacon Mac 'n Cheese Recipe

A few weeks ago I posted the picture above on social media showing dinner that M and I had made together that night.  Of course I had planned on posting the recipe on my blog but I had no idea how many requests I would get for the recipe.  So without further ado, here is our bacon mac 'n cheese recipe from a few weeks ago! I found the original recipe on Pillsbury.com but M and I adapted it to fit what we wanted.

Bacon Mac 'n Cheese

Ingredients:
1 box penne pasta
1 jar three cheese Alfredo sauce
1/2 c. milk
1/4 tsp. chopped garlic
2 c. shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 c. shredded Monterrey jack cheese
1/4 package bacon
1/4 c. panko style bread crumbs

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400.  Spray 2 quart casserole dish with cooking spray.
2. Cook and drain pasta as directed
3.  While pasta is cooking, cook bacon

4. In 3 quart saucepan heat cooking sauce, milk and garlic to a boil.

5. Remove from heat and stir in 1 1/2 c. shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 c. shredded Monterrey jack cheese until melted.

6. Stir in pasta and bacon.

7. Spoon into casserole dish.
8. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bread crumbs

9. Bake for 20 minutes or until edges are bubbly.

10. Enjoy!

#tbt... Chi Omega Suite Life

After seeing one of my friends post a #tbt picture on Facebook last week of when we were living on the Chi Omega suite Junior year at Bucknell I decided that this week's #tbt should be dedicated to the Sweet Life on the Chi Omega Suite during the Fall 2005 semester!

Sorority Recruitment Fall 2005

A little peek at my room on the suite...

Margarita Night in my room on the suite

Chi Omega Formals Fall 2005

I know this is random, but many hours were spent in my suite dorm room working on this stupid Spanish project... one of the most time consuming projects I  EVER did!

Did you ever live in your sorority or fraternity house or suite? What memories do you have of those days?

Best Brownie Recipe EVER!

It is no secret that I absolutely LOVE to cook.  But it may be a secret that I also love to bake and that I think I am a pretty darn good baker.  Today I am going to share with you the BEST brownie recipe ever.  Now I have NO CLUE where this recipe originally came from... I just know that I stole it from my mom's recipe box. This recipe post is not going to be set up the way all of the other ones are because well I am just going to write the recipe on here as I have it written on my recipe card!

My copy of the recipe card... Mom's looks a lot more beat up than mine does!

Kathryn Hepburn's Brownies

1. Melt in heavy saucepan: 2 squares of unsweetened chocolate and 1/4 lb (1 stick) of butter.

2. Remove from heat and stir in 1 c. sugar

3. Add 2 eggs and 1 tsp. vanilla and beat like mad.

4. Stir in 1/4 c. flour, 1/4 tsp. salt and 1 c. chopped walnuts.

4. Mix together

5. Grease a square tin (8x8) and put in a preheated oven (325F) for 40 minutes.

6. Cool before cutting.

7. Enjoy.

You can even use cookie cutters to make the brownies into fun shapes like I do for almost every Chi Omega event!  I mean who doesn't love owl shaped brownies?!

*Note: for these pictures I doubled the recipe because I was making them for a party*

Whatchu Know About Me?!

... or rather, 10 things you may not know about me...

one: Something happened to me when I was in the hospital being born and as a result I have a pretty significant dent in my head.  As if having a dent in my head isn't enough, said dent is also a bald spot.  Which means certain hair styles won't work on me because well, you can see my dent/bald spot.

two: I was a cheerleader in high school and I am proud of it!  I also won the scholar-athlete award for the cheerleading squad my senior year and one of the other girls on the squad told me it was discrimination against stupid people that I won because she was a better cheerleader than I was.  Guess she missed the memo that it was a scholar-athlete award.

three: I have an irrational fear of escalators.

four: I used to be fluent in Spanish.  I say "used to be" because I feel like I have lost a lot of it since I don't speak it all the time.... BUT it does come back quite quickly when people start speaking it to me.

five: My husband and I never share the true story of how we met because I find it embarrassing.  We usually just say we met through a mutual friend... which is the truth, just not the whole truth.

six: When I was in 6th grade I was in an anti-bullying movie that the NHL put together.  I was in a classroom scene and a pizza shop scene.  I knew acting wasn't for me when I was forced to eat pizza at 8am even though I wasn't hungry and didn't want it.  Plus it was such a waste of pizza when they constantly made us take one or two bites out of a slice before we would have to re-shoot the scene.  This also is where my love affair with hockey began because a) I got to meet a bunch of NHL players and b) I got to attend a charity softball game where I got to again meet a bunch of NHL players.

seven: I play the flute. And am actually pretty good at it... so good that in middle school I played in a few duets in concerts.

eight: I love ketchup and tomatoes but I think tomato sauce/marinara sauce is one of the most disgusting things on the face of the planet.  If I could completely eliminate it from my diet I would... except I don't think the hubby would enjoy that too much.

nine: When I was in third grade I went through an identity crisis where I kept on changing my name.  My poor teachers never knew what time I was going to put on my papers.  Sometimes it was Elizabeth, sometimes it was Betsey... or Liz... or Lizbeth... or Beth... or Lizzie... I think I even used Eliza a few times.  In the end I continued to go by Betsey or Elizabeth depending on how many of the other Elizabeths were in my class.

ten: Although I have traveled all over Europe I have never been across the US border to either Canada or Mexico.

{via}

Did any of you know all of these random facts about me? 

What are some random things people might not know about YOU?

#tbt... Can't Celebrate Cinco de Mayo, No Problem, We'll Celebrate Cuatro de Mayo!

Everyone loves Cinco de Mayo... or at least I am convinced that everyone loves Cinco de Mayo because who doesn't love an excuse to drink margaritas?!?!  Well last year I was unable to celebrate Cinco because tragically I got scheduled to work.  No worries though, I didn't let work get in the way of my margarita drinking... no, I most certainly did not.  I did what any rational person would do... I threw a Cuatro de Mayo Party!!  So without further ado... today I am throwing it back to our Cuatro de Mayo Fiesta!!!!

What are your plans for Cinco de Mayo? Have you ever thrown a Cuatro de Mayo Fiesta?