Happy Friday INDEED!

today i worked.

but not too hard.

i swam.

and didn't feel like i was going to drown.

i drove with the windows down.

and thought i might just start sweating it was so darn warm out!

i took a wrong turn on the back roads home from work.

and drove past some of the prettiest farms and houses.

(if anyone wants to stand in front of my camera this weekend, let me know, 

i really want to take pics there!)

i got home, checked the mail.

and look what i found...

WHOOOAAAA!!!!

$50 whole dollars?!

pure bliss!

it expires in forever, but since i got rid of a few pairs of shoes last weekend i probably should replenish ASAP.

for the record, i got this because michael bought shoes too.

boys shoes are more expensive ya know.

plus i had a triple rewards card!!

and now i'm off to a concert in philly.

at a church.

funky eye makeup is in order :).

i'll be sure to post an update for the rest of the world to let you know of the weirdness that will ensue tonight!

Happy Friday!!

30/30: Day 25, 26, & 27

with the 30 days of shoes winding down, 

i thought i was running out of black shoes to wear.

guess i wrong...

Charles Davids on Monday, Steve Madden Luxe on Tuesday 

and the only pair of Nike's i own today.

i saw the maddens in the window of dsw last summer and had to have them!  

they make me smile.

so worth the impulse buy, 

just enough glitz

and they come with a built in calf work-out!  

and they've been known to withstand an entire afternoon of walking

...well almost...

my feet might not love 4 inch heels as much as the rest of me.

besides for shoe obsessions, 

i also get a little OCD about things at times.

today on my way out the door i shoved an REI gift card

and SOMEHOW managed to jam the corner of the paper into the snap of my purse.

really?! 

what.are.the.odds?!

oh and it was stuck beyond belief.

had to break out the needle-nose pliers AND tweezers.

i'm sure most people wouldn't even notice.

or care.

but not me...

delayed my departure a good 20 minutes

sheesh!

and while we're on the topic of purses,

i have quite the multitude of those as well.

but this is my current 'it' bag.

got it for christmas this year.

my first big girl bag

yay, it holds more than just my phone and keys!

aaah, sometimes it IS okay to enjoy material things.

dear gym, i despise you.

i loathe the gym.  

i quit LA Fitness a few years ago when i decided to try out the martial arts thing.  

but once i signed up for the triathlon i needed a place to swim.  

i searched everywhere for a reasonable alternative to joining LaFit again, but alas it was the cheapest and most conveniently located.  

grrrrowl.

don't misunderstand, i don't mind the actual exercising part, that's a-okay.

but the actual physical gym and the non-gym activity that goes on there is my new nemesis.

today i saw a man...

who looked like he might legit live at the gym based on the fact that his biceps were larger than my entire body...

break out a container of chicken and curry rice.  

WHADDAYAMEAN?! 

We're at the gym!!

buddy...you're dripping in sweat.  

and you're dropping rice on the floor!

and you're standing close enough to my treadmill that the stench of curry is gagging me!

so many things wrong with this picture...but i kept my mouth closed and kept running.

last week i saw a couple...

the girl was in a pink velour track suit.

she definitely could've beaten up her boyfriend.

probably because he walked around and handed her weights instead of actually working out himself.

noble, but must you make out and hold hands while walking around?

WHAT.DO.YOU.MEAN?!?

just about everyday i see old women...

they have no regard for clothing.

they like to sit on the benches in the locker room with an inappropriate amount of cloth between it and their very old bodies.

why am i in the corner trying to change as modestly as possible yet old grannies are prancing around in their birthday suits like they're trying to start a new career in the adult industry?!

hey i'm all for loving your body, but could ya do it in a way that doesn't touch anything that i might come in contact with?

oh.good.grief!

ha!!

thank goodness that the days keep getting longer and more of my training can be done outside instead of at "Club LaFit".  If anyone has a lap pool i can use i'll gladly transfer my gym membership fee to your bank account!

Congrats John & Rose!

Last week at work we had a groom shower for a coworker because he was off to Vegas to get married.  

How exciting is that?! 

well it gets better, there's a link to watch the wedding online.  

omg, serious virtual stalking going on by most of the department right now.  

Vegas thinks of everything!!

i'm thinking that posting the actual link is just slightly crossing the boundaries of what's acceptable, but here are some pictures from the phillies themed shower.  

 wedding bell pretzel...on a phillies plate...on a mlb tablecloth.

insane amounts of food for 20 people...that was just one of the tables.  eating is definitely what we do best.

the groom...stoked about the new customized phillies shirts for him and his bride..."groom" & "bride" '10 on the back.  popped collar for the picture only...and he just might hate my guts for posting proof that he's now become 'metro' with his new city digs.

30/30: Day 24 + Weekend Projects

this weekend was all about doing nothing.  

trying to relax and spend some time doing things i wanted to do.  

there's been way too much running around and scheduled tasks going on in my life lately so i needed a major breather.

well i almost managed to do nothing.  

thanks to the rain i even slept in until 8:45 today.

huge accomplishment in my world!  

but my overactive brain seemed to get the best of me at times.  

i made a new home for some of my shoes while i was putting away all of the winter clothes.  

still trying to figure out how i'm going to get to them every morning...time to invest in stilts?

 

i barely had any need to wear shoes today, so i wore flops even though it was a little chilly for them.

bought them in martha's vineyard many years ago, good memories of warmer days :).

and yea i wore sweats most of the day.  

i don't joke around when i'm trying to be lazy!

___________________

besides for reorganizing my closet and watching too much tv, i made some phenomenal bread.

i am obsessed with anything carb related.

basically i follow the anti-atkins diet

my mom sent me this recipe from the King Arthur website.

there are so many great blogs i could follow.

but why bother when she does it for me and filters it for just the stuff i might like?!

chunks of cheese plus bread...'nuff said!

final result...crusty, cheesy, baguettes.  the house smells AMAZING!

if you're going to try it out, use the blog/picture version, much more thorough.

Can it be Sunday again tomorrow? please?!

Tasty treat

I saw this recipe featured over on

the other day and knew it needed to be added to my list of summer standbys.


Last night m & i made some mexican food for dinner so it was the perfect time to try it out!

Brazilian Limeaid

(Recipe courtesy Meikel Reece)

2 bottles Simply Limeaid
1 can sweetened condensed milk
sliced limes for serving
1 bag crushed ice

In a large bowl (or pitcher if you have one big enough) pour about a cup of the Limeaid in then pour in the sweetened condensed milk. Pour in the rest of the Limeaid, mix well.
Fill desired glasses to the brim with ice, pour over top with lime and serve immediately.

I mixed in some Bacardi Dark...hence the darker color than in the original recipe.

Also, i used the fat free sweetened condensed milk and added some lime juice.

And if you're lucky enough to have a mother who happened to literally buyout the remaining stock of these glasses at Crate & Barrel before they changed the design and were on super-sale, then you have the PERFECT glass for this drink!

Enjoy!!

30/30: Day 23 + OneforOne

Rocked my TOMS shoes today.

My sister got them for me for my birthday!

The yellow color just screams summer!

That hot TOMS guy came to her school to talk about the TOMS mission to bring shoes to children in need.

Hot guys selling things usually works...

add in some pictures of sad children and 

WHAM

...marketing genius!

but seriously, they're superbly comfy shoes that are way better for your feet than regular flats.  

and it's an awesome cause.

and i really want to participate in the 'one day without shoes' next year.

TOMS sends you stickers and a funny little flag so you can take a picture of you and your shoes to send to them.  

Normally i wouldn't do this but the pair Kara got for me are called "Bridgeport Yellow"

...uhm perfect, i live in bridgeport.

documentation required!

well it's her birthday too!

not only was it my brother's girlfriend's birthday, but it was my friend Linda's 30th birthday on Friday!

her family organized a surprise party for her.  

i honestly can't remember the last time i've been to a surprise party, so exciting.  

and they pulled it off, she had no idea!

in my mind all things that are brightly colored match.

so i wore a bright pink dressed paired with kelly green sandals.

obvi.

they make even little ol' me seem tall!

this cute little guy was at the party...

guarantee that he's going to be setting world records for staring contests in the near future.

You say it's your birthday...

Happy Birthday Erin!!

Hope your day is filled with love and laughter!


we heart you.
lots.
xo!


and ps, i need new pics of you because your smile is just too great to go undocumented!

28:28

Hooray! Ran my first 5k today!

i was just trying to finish under 30 minutes since i don't want to ruin my legs for the rest of the week's training schedule.  success!  

thank goodness tswift came on right near the end so i got an extra burst of much needed energy :).  

65 days until the triathlon, plenty of time to work on the lack of speed.

Really hoping i can walk tomorrow!

woo-girl pose...with city hall growing out of my head.  oh yea, sweet pic.

more pics to come later...double rainbow spotted right before the race started.  

always fun to hear a large crowd gasp in awe at mother nature.

drive by.

today proved to me exactly why it's so beneficial to have a camera on you at.all.times!

little drive by shooting of this on my way home.  

i drive by this house every day.  

how on earth have i never noticed this?!

plus...the dead wreath still has a TAG ON IT!

oiy!

30/30: Day 21 + a misty moisty morning...

...when cloudy was the weather.  

it was foggy this morning on the drive in to work.  not a very common occurrence here in PA.

i love fog.

and watching it rise through the spring trees while the sun starts shining is just pure magic.

makes me want to walk through the woods and take a whole lotta pictures.

i miss the fog horn.

being woken up at 2am by numerous freight trains speeding through my town just isn't the same.

wearing my new sperry's made it almost okay that there's not an ocean within walking distance.

second best thing about sperry's, other than the fact that they're awesome, is that right now they're being sold in a shoebox with pictures from newport on it!  

Whaaat?!?! so cool!  

thank goodness i actually loved these crazy shoes because the newport shoebox probably would've forced me to purchase it regardless.

turn that frown upside down + 30/30: Day 20

today was less than wonderful so i needed to work hard to keep up the positive energy...

otherwise my computer was going to get smashed to smithereens!  

work computer of course.  

just using the word smithereens makes me start to smile...

anywho....frowny face remedies...

painted the toes my fave color nail polish

essie bermuda shorts.

dreamt of being in bermuda.

wore a comfy tee with the eiffel tower on it.

dreamt of being back in paris.

wore my chef jacket to cook up some pulled pork.

my mom bought it for me.  

it's the best.

invest in one for yourself!

wondered if my job would be more fun if i just wore my chef jacket to the office once in a while.

listened to pandora.

music always makes me feel better...or at least calms me down.

and pandora is just magically fascinating.

and when all else failed...

watched these two silly videos which always crack me up.

i can't imagine there's anyone left in the world that hasn't seen them,

but have a good laugh and watch them again anyway!

aah! aaahh! aaaahhhh!!!!   is this gonna be forever!?!

no, it's not gonna be forever...tomorrow will be better...fingers crossed!

confession: sometimes i also scream in my car, similar to this vid, when the day is pure suck :). 

Half-Baked Plan + 30/30: Day 19

daily dose of embarrassment:

today i was trying to be productive and i think i must've tried too hard.

because i failed!

big time.

i decided to go to the gym right near work so i could leave something running on my laptop.

with the intention of swinging by the office on my way back home to get it.

had a good little work out.

narrowly avoided being spotted by the few people at the gym that work in my office.

because boy would that be embarrassing.

since i sweat.

a lot.

no glistening here folks, just good ol' pure sweat.

it's awkward enough to see coworkers outside of their natural habitat...

but when i'm sweaty it's just not okay!

success! got out of there without so much as a glance in my direction.

walk through the parking lot and....BAM!

PANIC!!

'i'm COVERED in sweat!

I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE OFFICE!!

and it's only 5:45...people are still WORKING!!!

STUPID PLAN!!!!

AAAAHHH!!!!!!

luckily i had another shirt in my gym bag so i could hide some of the sweat.

but there's nothing like stopping people dead.in.their.tracks when then saw me walking down the halls in gym outfit with my hair pulled back and those fab little sweat ringlets forming at the nape of my neck.

probably smelled fantastic too.

and why is it that when you're trying to be in ninja-stealth-mode you run into EVERYONE?!?

so glad i'm working from home tomorrow.

give some of the unlucky coworkers a chance to erase that burned image from their brain!

___________________

as for shoes, i settled for one of my brown pairs today.

does anyone else think it's impossible to find brown shoes? 

i only own 2 pair  (flops excluded).

30/30: Day 18...woof!

happy marathon monday!

congrats to all of those courageous enough to participate in the boston marathon.  

i just don't know how they do it!  

hopefully they avoided all of those crazy BC students ;-).

you may notice that i'm a day behind in the 30/30 challenge

...but it's NOT because i messed up...

it's because i didn't have a need to wear shoes yesterday, ha oops.

gotta love a lazy sunday.

i'll extend it an extra day, no worries, wouldn't want to fail at my own made-up challenge!

wore these rocketdogs today...barefoot would've been way more fun.

confession:

when i was little i would have dreams ALL. THE. TIME. that i got on the school bus without shoes.  

don't know why, but i remember it was very upsetting.

maybe it means i'm destined to embarrass myself in public, sounds likely.

pie. for your hands!

hand pies....just a fun way of saying, these things are so good you're gonna need to pick them up and shove them in your face as fast as possible!

these are definitely a weekend project since the dough is a little time consuming. but oh so worth it!  i made peach ones last year and froze most of them so i could have a taste of summer whenever i wanted.  delicious!  made rhubarb tonight and can't wait to try some new filling ideas.  next time i'm making a double batch for sure, 8 in the freezer is just not enough!

the recipe for the dough and peach filling can be found at Smitten Kitchen.  only thing i recommend changing is cutting the fruit up really tiny and use a larger cutter since you're immediately going to want a second one if you make them too small!  

whole foods, whole milk.

milk is so darn good.  growing up we had it every night at dinner...not a question, mandatory milk drinking in full effect.  but none of us seemed to mind.  and even now there are times i just crave a good cold glass of milk.

but it's not the same.  

because at home in RI we had one of the most amazing things ever...a MILKMAN!! 

i know, you can't believe it, but it's true!!  i swear!  

home delivery too.  from a truck painted like a cow!  

look, i even have proof for all of you that don't believe that these mythical milkmen still exist in modern day america...

 

that's alan leaving my parent's driveway in his cow truck.  

know him by name, he will even put the milk in the fridge if we're at home and the door's open.  

it does not get more amazing than that!

and that's the best chocolate milk and eggnog i've ever consumed.  

glass containers keep it extra cold and even the 1% milk tastes creamy.  

mind you that this container of chocolate milk was in our house for about 6 seconds.   

it's just that good!

so anyway, i know that's an awesome story and all...but it gets BETTER!

impossible right?!

WELL, i was in Whole Foods and literally stopped dead in my tracks and immediately started freaking out.

like taking pictures with my phone and franticly texting my mom & sister while making high pitched noises and possibly skipping with joy kind of freak out!!!

at the end of the aisle i spotted this...

thank you day.  you have officially been made.

do yourself a favor.  find some milk in a glass bottle and enjoy it!

confession:

did i need heavy cream for any reason whatsoever?

hecks no!

am i so obsessed with cute little glass milk bottles that 

i'm a-okay buying it and making incredibly expensive whipped cream?!

yep, you betcha!!

happy sunday!