Today *NEVER* Get Any Easier

No matter how many years have passed since that fateful September day, this day NEVER gets any easier for me.  Growing up right outside of NYC, 9.11.01 was one of the worst days of most of our lives.  And there is nothing that can change that.  That day was terrible (you can read about it here...rereading my own post brings the memories flooding back even more and has reduced me to sobbing) and still sticks out in my mind like it was yesterday.

There is nothing like not knowing why your school suddenly went into lockdown mode.  There is nothing like finding out what was happening and then not being able to remember if your family had to go into the city that day for work.  There is nothing like not being able to get any cell phone reception so you can't even call your loved ones to make sure that they are ok.  There is nothing like the panic that went on in my high school that morning.  It is something that unless you have experienced it, you have no idea what went on.

I can't help but look at all the posts today on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even in blog land.  Every picture, every post, every person sharing what they remember about this day brings tears to my eyes.  So many memories come flooding back and I don't even think that I can adequately put into words how I am feeling today.  Today will not be a good day... it never is.  Today will be an emotional day filled with tears as I remember what happened that fateful morning.

As tough as today always will be, today is also a day where I will continue to remember to thank God that my loved ones were no where near the attacks.  I will continue to pray for those who lost loved ones on this day 12 years ago and who have lost loved one since as they have fought the war on terrorism.  I will continue to pray for the men and women of the US Military who have given everything they have to protect our country and to give us the freedom that we all cherish.

I pray that as a country we never have to go through something like this again, but that even if we do that we come out of it all stronger than ever.

God Bless the U.S.A. and all of our Military Personnel

Great video from YouTube... we'll never forget.

Cara Box Reveal!!!!!

So I know I am late to the Cara Box reveal game, but this month I received my box a little late and since I received it I feel like I have had zero free time for blogging.  In fact I think my only post since I received it was a "Wordless Wednesday" post where I didn't really do much besides post some pictures from one of my bff's wedding.

So about this Cara Box.  The Cara Box Exchange was started by Kaitlyn over at Wifessionals as a way to "Make Friends... Receive Gifts...Share Encouragement" as her button for the exchange states.  My first time participating in the Exchange I was paired with Ashley from Our Mitchell Moments and Maddie from My Saturday Smiles.  All of us were newbies to the Cara Box Exchange and had no idea what to expect.  The theme for this month's box was "Seasons of Life" and we were supposed to make a box for our partners that captured the essence of who they are.

I had to send a box to Ashley and immediately upon e-mailing her I knew that we would become AMAZING friends.  Ashley was so easy to talk to and I loved hearing about her beautiful baby girl as well as all the other little things going on in her life.  We e-mailed back and forth A LOT and I really feel like I was able to create a box that was simply her... a box dedicated to her love for her family!

I received a box from Maddie who is a talented artist... you should check out her Etsy shop here... especially if you have little girls!  She has some phenomenal artwork that if I had a little girl I would totally love to put in her room.  Maddie is way more creative than I am and she definitely put together a box that will hopefully get my creative genes flowing a bit more!

My pretty bag of a box from Maddie!!

Contents of my box

My box included a little chalkboard that says "I love you because..." and some chalk so that MD and I can write messages to each other letting each other know why we love each other on any particular day.  She also gave me a journal and pen where I can write down anything related to MD & I.... so that we can remember why it is that we love each other and what it is that we are doing together.  I love that she decorated the notebook with red, white and blue ribbon as my favorite football team is the NYG.  I also got some really cute coasters that I plan on using during football season!  

Overall my first experience with the Cara Box was wonderful and I am looking forward to getting to know my new partners for the next box!  

Wordless Wednesday... Jersey & Buffalo Unite

I haven't done a "Wordless Wednesday" post in a while, and I also haven't done the post about AP (now AC) and CC's wedding yet, so I figured that there is no more perfect way to showcase their wedding than an "almost" "wordless Wednesday" post.  One of my Jersey bffs, AP, married her love from Buffalo, CC, on August 17, 2013 at the Greycliff in Moonachie, NJ.  I was privileged to be AP's honor attendant in the wedding, standing up there next to her while she married her best friend and soul mate.  Most of these pics are courtesy of my amazing fiance (I was in the wedding so ya know I couldn't actually take any pictures during the ceremony), but some of the ones from the reception are mine.  Enjoy!!

Something Blue... "I Do" on the bottom of her shoes

Me & the lovely bride AP before the ceremony

Ceremony Site

Cutie flower girls

AP & her Dad

So happy

Mr. & Mrs. CC!!!!

1st Dance

Me & my 2nd Momma... Momma of the Bride!

High School Ladies at the Reception

It was seriously such a lovely day for such a lovely couple!!  Wishing these two a lifetime of happiness together!!

Cheers to the Freaking Weekend

Yes, I know it is Monday and therefore the title of my post doesn't really fit... but that was how I felt about this past weekend.  It had been a long week and quite frankly, I was REALLY ready for the weekend.  Of course I had to work on Friday night and let me tell you, it was a HORRENDOUS night... I'm pretty sure I almost jumped over the bar and strangled a few of our customers, but in the end we ended up doing alright, plus I knew I had Saturday to look forward to so that was all that really mattered.

Besides Friday being a crummy day at work, it didn't start off that poorly.  The fiance and I officially made our FIRST MAJOR purchase together... WE BOUGHT A CAR!!!!! Despite the fact that I basically had two, yup... you heard me right TWO... panic and/or anxiety attacks (however you want to classify them) over buying it... we managed to sign the paperwork on Friday and now are the proud owners of a new 2014 Acura RDX.

Now you might be wondering why I had a panic attack over buying a car.  Well I will tell you why.  First, you all know, this girl doesn't do change well.  I like to list all the pros and cons of a major change and then I like to try to talk myself out of it despite the fact that the pros outweigh the cons.  Prime example... Pros of the RDX: roomy, safe, has a lot of pep, is a sexy looking car, easy to put down back seats, moon roof, heated seats, the list goes on and on.  Major con of the RDX: the gas and brake pedals feel strange.  Yes people, one of the reasons I panicked about the car was that I didn't like how the gas and brake pedals felt under my feet.  Irrational con, you bet.  Did it make me not want to purchase the car, you bet.  Am I crazy? You bet. The next reason  I was panicked was because come on people, this was OUR FIRST MAJOR PURCHASE TOGETHER.  MD and I have never really gotten anything together because well we were just dating... this is the first investment that we have made in our future lives together and that people scares me.  I know that MD & I are about to embark on the amazing journey that is marriage together, but it doesn't mean that I am not just a little scared about the future.  I know this is what I want, but like I said... big changes freak me out.

My new baby

Of course I already have the Bucknell magnet on it!

Sexy car... now to just figure out a name for it!

After getting over the shock of purchasing a car, and the horrendous night at work on Friday, I felt like Saturday would never get here!  I was excited for Saturday because MD and I were having people over to celebrate the fact that MD's best man bought us a keg-o-rater for a wedding gift.  Yup, that's right... a keg-o-rater as a wedding gift.  So of course the only natural thing to do is to have a party to break it in.

So Saturday evening a bunch of our friends came over and we definitely broke that baby in.  We all had an awesome time and it was great to get to just relax at home with some of our favorite people.  We of course stayed up way too late, drank way too much, and on Sunday we were reminded of the fact that we are definitely NOT 21 anymore and cannot party like we used to.  All in all it was a successful party, but next time... I will not be drinking so much beer nor will I be taking shots like I am a sorority girl out at the bar in college.  No way... I have learned my lesson... I think.

Keg-o-Rater all ready to go

Lovers excited for our party

Awesome gift from the Best Man

Bridesmaid Love

The Tustin Sisters made it!!

How was your weekend?  Do anything different?

Grandma's Cooking... Peach Crunch

I feel like it has been a really long time since I have posted a recipe on here... and I LOVE to cook, so you would think that I would want to share my recipes with people... especially those family recipes that I just can't get enough of!

Last week when I was grocery shopping the peaches looked FAB-U-LOUS so I decided to get some and that I would try my hand at making my Gram's peach crunch recipe.  I have no idea where she got the recipe from, all I know is that it is SUPER SIMPLE and tastes DELICIOUS.

Peaches sliced on the bottom of the baking dish

Flour, Sugar, Baking Powder, Egg, salt

Mixed together with a fork

Poured over the peaches, sprinkle with cinnamon and drizzle with oil

Finished Product

Gram's Peach Crunch Recipe

Ingredients

Peaches (2-4 depending on the size of the peaches)

1 c. sifted flour

1 c. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1 unbeaten egg

3/4 tsp. salt

1/4 c. oil

Cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Slice peaches and put on the bottom of a 8x8 square baking dish

Mix together dry ingredients plus the egg with a fork until crumbly.

Sprinkle mixture over peaches.

Drizzle oil over top of mixture.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake 30-40 minutes or until it looks golden brown around the edges

*Note: Peaches can be replaced with apples, blueberries or any other fruit you feel like trying with it.* 

Relaxing at the Lake

Over the weekend MD and I headed to Lake Wallenpaupack for some relaxation and wedding party bonding with some of our favorite people in the world.  We both worked on Friday night so of course Saturday morning came WAYYYYY too early.  Thankfully the weather wasn't too bad so that we could take MD's car... he tried to fix his defroster and managed to make something else stop working in the process so his air is all screwed up and only blows cold air on one side of the car.  I had said that I would drive, but in reality I was exhausted and really didn't want to have to worry about finding our way out there.

The drive was pretty easy... minus getting stuck behind some tree trucks...then a slow moving van... then some old people from Florida.  I swear we could have gotten there at least half an hour earlier had people known how to drive.  Or maybe it was just the fact that I was sleep deprived talking and we would have gotten there around the same time anyway.

Gorgeous view of the Lake from the deck of the house

Once we got there we spent a lot of time catching up.  My one bridesmaid, VM, was there and since she normally lives in AZ we don't get to see each other often and we had a TON of catching up to do.  Plus we were waiting for Mr. & Mrs. V to get there so that we could all go out on the boat.  They were a little late in arriving as they followed ML's directions to the lake and of course he told them to take 22W when they really needed to take 22E... good job ML, good job!

As soon as the V's got there we had a quick lunch, filled a cooler with some beer and headed out to boat to do some drinking on the Lake.  We spent quite a bit of time out on the boat and even went for a swim!  Obviously I was the 1st girl to get in the water... what can I say, I have no fear of jumping off the side of a boat into a Lake.

After the boat ride we headed back to the house to get our drink on.  Of course the boys had set up a make shift pong table on the deck... we had a cooler of delicious beer and it was time to just RELAX some more.

Make shift pong table on the deck

Typical of MM

Blast from the past for playing pong... at least it wasn't Natty!

After some pong and showering we headed downstairs to do some grilling for dinner before heading back up to the deck for more drinking and just relaxing.  It was so nice to get to spend some quality time with some amazing friends.  We need to do stuff like this more often!

VM & I... so great she was visiting from AZ

MD & I

The weekend was obviously over way too fast and I was not ready to come home last night.  All I wanted to do was lounge around and listen to the lake while drinking beer on the deck.  MD and I have decided that one day when we have a bunch of money we are going to buy a condo or a townhouse or something on either the beach or a lake so that we can enjoy this type of relaxation more often!

What did you do this past weekend?

A Beach Bachelorette Weekend

This past weekend was my bachelorette party. I couldn't have asked for a better weekend with a better group of friends.  It was great to have a weekend off from work and even better to get the chance to spend some time with my favorite ladies at one of my favorite places... the beach!

I headed down to the beach on Friday with one of my bridesmaids/favorites/adopted little sister, Sara for what promised to be an awesome weekend.  We had a fairly uneventful ride... minus the rain cloud that I swear was following us for the first portion of our trip.  We made a stop in Ocean Grove to visit Gram & Pop and I think we successfully surprised them!  It was so nice to start the weekend off with a few hours of catching up with them... I was definitely sad to go at the end of the visit when we got the phone call that the rest of our group had arrived at the hotel.

Friday night was just a small group of us... me, Sara, Amanda (another bridesmaid), Anna (my MOH), and Becky (my glittle in Chi Omega).  We had decided to go to dinner at Avenue in Long Branch to start off the weekend right.  Avenue is a Parisian themed seafood restaurant right on the ocean.  We were seated right away and immediately started to have a good time.

Starting off my beach bachelorette weekend

Welcome Bags

Lovely ladies at dinner

After an amazing seafood dinner we all headed upstairs to Le Club for some more bonding, dancing, people watching and enjoying the gorgeous view of the beach and the Atlantic from the outside rooftop.  While at Le Club we saw many "Situation" look alikes... people pretending to be Snookie and JWoww... as well as met people who hated Philly for no apparent reason and even a guy who graduated from the same elementary, middle and high school as Anna & I did (only he graduated 20 years before us).  We ended up closing the club down before heading back to the hotel to get some sleep.

View from the Club

Hanging out in Le Club

Our friend who went to Roberge, Holdrum, & PV... just 20 years before us

Saturday morning we all got up pretty early so that we could head to the beach for the day.  After talking to my dad before the weekend I had decided that I wanted to go to Belmar for the day as he said he thought the beaches were nicer there than some of the other local beaches.  The beach was a pretty relaxing day where we all enjoyed ourselves.  One of my friends lost her bathing suit bottom to the Atlantic at one point, but no worries we were able to get it back together so that she wasn't stranded in the ocean for the rest of the afternoon.  We had lots of laughs all throughout the day.  While at the beach the original crew was joined by some of my other friends... Karla, Lisa, Sam, Kelly, and Jeannine.  It was great to have such a large group enjoying some fun and sun.  After spending most of the day at the beach we headed back to the hotel to meet up with Meghan, Sarah & Angela who had just arrived and to get ready for dinner and a night out.

Beautiful Beach Day in Belmar

We went to dinner at Vic's in Bradley Beach which is a family favorite of mine.  Every since I was a little kid we have been eating pizza from Vic's just about every trip down to my grandparents.  It was awesome to get to go with such a great group of girls and we enjoyed some delicious Italian food before heading back to the hotel to go out for the night.  Back at the hotel we enjoyed a nice champagne toast before heading to The Draft House in Long Branch for the night.  Of course before we went out I couldn't resist putting on all my bachelorette gear that the girls had gotten for me...

Rocking all my awesome bachelorette gear

Favorite Pizza Down the Shore

Standard "sorority squat" pose with my Chi Omega ladies

Photo Shoot before heading out for the night

We all piled into cabs to head to The Draft House for what promised to be an awesome night out.  We danced and drank the night away... once again closing the place down!!   Who knew we all still had it in ourselves to stay out until 3am!

Fireball Shots

All of my fabulous friends out for my bachelorette

By the end of the night we had even made new friends!

Sunday morning we all "slept in" and by that I mean we stayed in bed until about 9am.  Once everyone was moving we headed into Asbury Park to go to Toast for brunch.  Our experience at Toast was interesting to say the least.  We were quoted a 45 minute wait and then after that had passed they kept telling us 10 more minutes every time someone would ask what was going on.  Once we finally got seated it took a while before anyone even acknowledged that we had been sat.  By this point we were all hungry and cranky, but the wait was definitely worth it because the food was DELICIOUS.  We had a great time together and I was sad to see brunch end because it meant that I would be saying good bye to most of my friends.  I know I make this seem like a dramatic goodbye, but we are all so busy that who knows the next time we will all be together (I am guessing my bridal shower or if not then the wedding)... but the times we can all get together are definitely few and far between.

After saying goodbye to most of the crew I headed to the Ocean Grove beach with Meghan, Sarah and Ang for one more day of fun in the sun.  Unfortunately our fun in the sun didn't last as late as I had hoped it would as it started to rain, but we still got some good rays in for the day and had a great time.  After the beach we all headed back to the hotel for dinner and then to toast to the end of the bachelorette weekend with some champagne.

Ocean Grove Beach

Another Gorgeous Day

End of the Weekend Champagne

All in all it was an AMAZING weekend with some of the best friends that a girl could as for.  I am so lucky to have these ladies in my life and I can't wait to have them all there in October as Mark and I begin the journey that will be the rest of our lives together!