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Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Liebster Award... Part 3


So I am a terrible blogger and although Emily from Southern Expectations nominated me for a Liebster back in oh, the end of June, I never actually got around to answering her questions.  So I am sooooo sorry Emily, I promise to make it up to you with the BEST answers to your questions EVER.  (Ok, maybe that is putting a lot of pressure on myself, but I am going to try my best with them anyway!)

I was first nominated for a Liebster by Lindsey at Bliss and Blunders of an Everyday Wife  and then I was nominated again back in early June by Adrianna at Adri's Thoughts and had such a fun time answering her questions, I decided that I would most definitely answer them again this time around.

Basically the Liebster Award is an award given by one blogger to another blogger in order for the blogging world to get to know you better.  There are all sorts of variations of the award, but the rules all include giving a list of questions for the blogger you nominated to answer.  The questions are always very interesting and I have definitely found some fun new blogs through these nominations.  This time around I will not be nominating any new blogs as the last time it did not turn out so well.  BUT don't you worry, when I find new and amazing blogs from now on I will just tell you about them instead of nominating them for this!

Now... without further ado... my answers to Emily's Questions....

1. What is your favorite part of blogging?  This is a tough one.  Although I really think that my favorite part of blogging is meeting new bloggers and making connections with them.  Take Emily, the lovely lady who nominated me... at least once a week while reading her blog I become convinced that we are the same person because we like so many of the same things.  Or Elizabeth from Elizabeth Loves who would probably be one of my bffs if we didn't live so far away from each other.  Or Erin from Love, Fun & Football who reached out to me to help me rebrand my blog when I was trying to figure out what to do with it.  I have "met" a ton of amazing people through blogging and I wouldn't change that for the world!

2. If you could move to any country in the world, where would it be?  Ha... this is an easy one.  Without a doubt, I would hands down move to Spain if I could go anywhere.  It is no secret that I loved that country and would move back there in a heartbeat.

The husband and I in Barcelona on our Honeymoon!
3. Favorite "adult" beverage.  Again... this is an easy one.  Craft beers.  In case you missed it, I did a post last week about 5 Breweries I Want to Visit and about how the husband and I both love craft beers so much.

4. Favorite hobby. Reading.... most definitely reading.  I love nothing more than to sit down with a good book and get lost in it.  Especially if I am getting lost in a good book and there is also a glass of wine involved!


5. If you could have a super power, what would it be and why? The ability to go invisible so that I can hide when my husband is harassing me.  Just kidding hubby!  No, but being able to go invisible would be pretty cool... I could sneak up on people and well let's just say that it would be fun.

6. What does your last text message say? Who was it from? "Just wanted to say how excited I am to see you again this weekend!!! I'm so honored and glad your coming." and it is from my friend JoAnne... and it is her bachelorette this weekend... can I tell you how excited I am to be heading back to NYC to spend a weekend celebrating her before her upcoming October wedding!

7. What is your idea of a perfect date night?  Pretty much any time I spend with my husband is a great date night (we don't see each other all that often due to our crazy, opposite work schedules).  But some of the best date nights are when we stay home... grill something together... and then sit outside on our patio enjoying each others' company while just talking about whatever.  Yup... those nights are definitely the best!

Grilling some beer can chicken and veggies for a date night at home with my husband!
8. Favorite food.  Hummus... and for the record I would just like to say that I loved hummus before it was super popular... I used to eat it in college... with Pita chips.  Hummus and pita chips were totally my comfort food and my friends would make fun of me for it all the time.

9. You have just one million dollars, you have 24 hours to spend it, what do you do with the money?  Pay off all my student loans, buy a house, donate some to charity and then invest the rest somehow to save for my future kids' college educations.

10. Best 4th of July Memory.  Most of my 4th of July memories are the same... spending time at the Jersey shore with my family since my Gram's birthday is on July 4th.  It is always so nice to spend time with my family since we don't always get to see each other that often and I look forward to the 4th of July every year!

Cousins at the Jersey Shore for Gram's Bday
Pop and Gram on her birthday!
11.  Coffee or Tea?  Coffee.  I LOVE my coffee.  I am pretty much a grump in the morning when I don't have my coffee... just ask my hubby.

Do you have any favorite blogs you think we should all check out?

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Delicious Dish Tuesday... Fresh Balsamic Bruschetta!

Once again I am back participating in Delicious Dish Tuesday presented by Eat, Drink & Be Mary, Coping with Frugality and Full Time Mama.  This week I am keeping it simple with an easy Bruschetta recipe.  Of course I didn't get a picture of the bruschetta all put together... it got eaten too fast!  But I did get a bunch of pictures of the process... so you can get the idea!


Fresh Balsamic Bruschetta

Ingredients:
4 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
8 fresh basil leaves, stacked, rolled and thinly sliced
3 tsp. garlic
Pinch of salt
1 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar


Directions:
1. Seed and dice the tomatoes

2. Stack, roll and thinly slice the basil

3. Combine tomatoes, basil, garlic, salt and balsamic vinegar.

4. Toss gently to combine.
5. Enjoy! 

Eat Drink & Be Mary

PS, Sorry for the poor quality of these pictures... my phone and I were not getting along the day that we made this recipe!

Monday, August 11, 2014

One of my Favorite Weekends of the Year... Lake Vacation 2014

If you read my post  from Thursday then you know I was soooooooo excited about heading to Lake Wallenpaupack for what is always a weekend filled with friends, fun, and sun.  This year was NO exception.  In fact this year was so much fun that we decided that from now on the 2nd weekend in August, EVERY year we will be heading up to beautiful Lake Wallenpaupack for a weekend away!

I worked on Thursday night so M and I decided that we would leave after lunch on Friday to head up.  Of course before heading out we had to make pit stops for beer and for supplies for my infamous sangria.  I decided to volunteer for the drive out as M always drives so I thought it might be nice for him to be a passenger.  I think he enjoyed taking pictures and "relaxing" for once while we were on a trip... although he did take the time criticize my driving a few times... but I maintain that I drove perfectly well the entire way there!

Once we got to the lake it was time to unpack the car and then get our relaxing on.  It took us no time to crack open some beers and get to relaxing on the deck with a beautiful view of Lake Wallenpaupack.

Feet up, beer in hand, view of the deck... not a bad start to my Friday!


Friday night was really just spend lounging around on the deck, playing some beer pong and going out to dinner with some of our favorites.






Saturday morning I was up bright and early for no apparent reason which was fine because it gave me time to enjoy a little coffee.  Once everyone was up we headed outside to play some cornhole and to wait for JG and her fiance to arrive before going out for an afternoon on the boat.





Pretty much ALL of Saturday afternoon was spent out on the boat drinking, catching up and enjoying each others' company.










Saturday night we fired up the grill and had a delicious dinner of BBQ chicken and grilled veggies.  And of course NO lake weekend is complete without some S'mores by the fire!  





I was sad to see Sunday morning come and even more upset that we had to leave to head back home so that I could work on Sunday night.  Weekends at the Lake are NEVER long enough and I am thinking that perhaps we need to make it a week long vacation instead of just a weekend!  Although if it is a week I seriously may NEVER leave!

What did you do this weekend?

PS, today I am linking up with B Loved Boston and Champagne and Suburbs for their "Weekending Link Up" 

PPS, today I am also linking up with Meg at Life of Meg for Mingle Mondays!

Mingle 240



Thursday, August 7, 2014

#tbt... Lake Wallenpaupack Weekends


In honor of the fact that tomorrow we leave for a relaxing weekend at "The Lake" a.k.a. Lake Wallenpaupack I decided that today's #tbt would be dedicated to the past weekends we have spent there.  Weekends at the Lake are always super relaxing and always an amazing time with friends.  We spend lots of time out on the boat, drink beer, BBQ and over all just relax and have a good time.  I am so looking forward to leaving tomorrow for some quality time with my husband and some of my favorite people ever!

The Lake House



Jetski Fun



No Lake weekend is complete without some beer pong on the deck



Do you have a place where you go with friends every year to relax?