Capri Blue - Volcano

Sometimes when I'm having a particularly annoying/stressful/blech day, i'll come home and take a few good deep breaths of this candle.  today wasn't any of those words above...it was actually productive and it was the end of my 2 day work week.  but i still came home and took a sniff of this candle and let it carry me off to some distant paradise.

if this qualifies me as a lunatic, i'm okay with that, it's just one of many on a long list of insane traits i possess.  just glad anthropologie had the good sense to stock this magnificent gem right under my nose!

happy weekend!

SoCal - LAX to Irvine

Last thursday as i was walking out of the office my boss asked if i had room in my schedule to take on a pretty huge project...that might require travel to California.  I said, sure...even though i wasn't sure, i was thinking that i was pretty busy at work and even busier with non-work stuff...but with the state of my company and wanting to make sure i was involved in high visibility stuff...i decided it was something i needed to do.  come friday i was booking my flight to Los Angeles for the following monday morning.  well really it barely counts as morning since i was up at 4:30, gross.


got to LAX an hour early...thought it was just me mixing up the time zones, but nope, that pilot must've been in a bit of a rush.  got to see the grand canyon on the way in and also witness the insane smog over LA, really couldn't believe how thick it was or how defined the line was up against the mountains.  Picked up my first ever rental car (i'm such a big girl) which was a new 4 door hatchback ford focus...and as much as it hurts my soul, i've gotta admit it was a much nicer car than i thought!   Synced my phone to bluetooth, called mz, used my favorite app ever (google navigation - only reason i can't commit to iphone yet) and then headed out to conquer the 405 to Irvine.  Insanely huge highway but luckily it was early afternoon so the traffic wasn't bad and everyone seems to know how to drive out there!


took a detour onto route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) around Seal Beach and took that through Newport Beach.  I was really put off and surprised by the area around Huntington Beach.  The oil rigs right off shore were kinda ugly but there weren't too many...BUT right on the other side of the highway had a lot of energy plants and oil derrick looking things...really weird and made me feel like the beach was dirty, even though it looked pristine.


Made it to Irvine in a little over an hour and headed straight to work.  It was a loooong day and by the time I checked into my hotel I wasn't really up for a driving around too much so I drove to the University of California at Irvine.  Why?  Because i figured it would be a safe area (not that I ever saw any sketchy areas near Irvine, but it was my first day, i had no clue) AND because there was an In 'N Out Burger there!  I'd heard so much about that place...but in the end left a bit disappointed :-/.  Think i'd prefer a 5 guys, sorry to say.  Guess it's just one of those things you have to try though!


Instagram pics over on the right side of the blog...


more of the trip to come!

cute as a button

since our families live about 250 miles apart, we end up swapping holidays and this year we were in sunny NJ for Mother's Day.  Which also happened to be 'photoshoot with new baby Benjamin' morning!

Bryan & Vicky sure do have a cute little munchkin!  so exciting to have a new member of the family and to be an aunt for the first time!

more pictures of this love bug here...and i'm sure many more to come! :)

Road trip to the District

...no, not district 13, although that would be pretty interesting.

Last weekend we braved the beltway and headed to Washington, DC to visit Huzie in his new place.  He lives in an AMAZING penthouse apartment in a really cool up-and-coming area of DC that you can tell is going to be THE spot to live in the next year or so.  It's still in the early stages but there's a beautiful park and tons of construction going on that preserves many of the original factory/foundry/etc buildings that (i think) used to all be part of the Navy Yard.

Although we arrived nearly past my bedtime on friday, we headed out to grab some grub at the ugly mug over by the Marine barracks.  we sat outside and enjoyed the wonderful weather and then got a special treat (aside from the tater-tots).  there was some event going on across the street and we caught a glimpse of the silent drill platoon spinning their shiny rifles while listening to the marine corps band!  it really made for a great night!  they even had all of the street lights partially covered during the event and it just gave you the feeling of being in pleasantville.

Saturday was Cinco de Mayo, so of course we had to eat....KOREAN BBQ!!! from a food truck!  i didn't actually eat anything mexican, such a travesty.   BUT we were at Trucko de Mayo (which we were all convinced was really trucko de mayo.naise) so it was totally okay that we weren't shoving our faces with guacamole.  before that we had spent the morning in georgetown...which i loved, obvi...and that night we crossed into virginia to hang out in Old Town, Alexandria which also was F.U.N!!  and full of ice cream :).

Sunday we had an gut-busting breakfast in Arlington before heading to Arlington National Cemetery to do lots of walking and searching for Huzie's great-great-uncle who was buried there.  some videos in case you want to feel like you were there.  ignore the shaky camera work, i was limited to one hand for a bit.





check here for pictures! and check out my instagram feed (to the right) for even more pics!

have you heard: blackmail material

i listen to a wide array of music...from rap to country, as long as it's catchy, i'm in.  sometimes i listen to really cool music...and then there are times where i'm embarrassed to admit what's been stuck in my head for days.

like these two gems:


now i must say that i had no idea what these boys looked like before posting this video, so no i don't like the song because i'm a 12 year old girl and think they're super dreamy...in fact i don't even want to go so far as to say that i actually LIKE the song.  but i can't deny that i listen to it in its entirety when it's on the radio...and sing along...and catch myself singing it throughout the day.

don't worry, the fun continues...


the first time i heard this song, mz and i were driving to pick up chinese food and what seemed like a clown car full of 10 year old girls had all of the windows rolled down and were singing this at the tops of their lungs looking like they were having the time of their life.  i showed a little restraint and didn't immediately go home to google the catchy song that made me feel like less of a person.  but after hearing it later that week on the radio i did play it, purposely, on spotify.

in the slightly less embarrassing music categories, Drive By and Starships (explicit...gotta keep up the street cred somehow!) are playing on repeat in my mental jukebox lately.

make sure you make a mental note of this for the next time you need to make fun of me or blackmail me for any reason :).

lookie here...

did you notice my new widget over there on the right hand side of the blog??  it's where you can check out my recent Instagram photos (aka pictures from my phone that have been through the awesome Instagram app that's FINALLY available for my android)!! woo-hoo!  if you click on a pic you can see it nice and big and read any captions too. chances are the pics will get updated more frequently than the actual blog posts so hopefully they'll hold you over during the lulls.

enjoy!

a little rhody easter

totally out of order of things i need to blog but i wanted to get these pictures up before it was june!

we spent easter in rhode island and it was a bit thrown together as nana was in the hospital until saturday (after over 20 days in that place, ick).  mz and i decided to do our best to keep easter going even though we weren't sure who could/would attend.  so thankful that i had blogged our easter recipes from last year because they were sure fire items that were easy to make and quite tasty!  mz grilled up the lamb, mom made some potatoes, i made a ricotta pie (didn't work quite as well as last year!) and heated a ham for good measure.

when it was all on the table it looked like we had been planning it all along...and we ended up filling the dining room with family and friends, which was very nice!

the rest of the weekend was spent driving around RI, making pasta and collecting sea glass down at nana's.  i also fell hard on the rocks...first time ever, must be because i'm so dang old now.  i'm obsessed with sea glass, always have been...luckily i had some great helpers on my treasure hunt!

click here for more pictures! 

little beach!

beavertail lighthouse

sister & CT

i got the kitchen aid pasta attachments for my bday and we've used them 4 or 5 times already, so in love!!  thanks to my awesome brother&sister-in-laws!!

mercer museum

when my parents are in town it's always a bit of a challenge to find something to do that's new and exciting...there are just so many things to pick from and so little time to pack them in to a quick weekend visit.  it takes a little extra creativity when the weather's going to be rainy and chilly, but i found a quirky place up in doylestown, pa that was awesome!

now doylestown is a place i'd love to live but i rarely frequent because it's nearly an hour from my house, so it's not one of my go-to places...might need to change that.  there are so many charming houses with historic elements like original gas burning lanterns that are still going strong.  totally different feel from the city or my neighborhood.

and tucked into the town is the Mercer Museum.  it was built to showcase every trade imaginable and the tools associated with the industry.  Henry Mercer was really an astounding guy and the concrete castle that he constructed was amazing.  i think we could've spent the entire weekend exploring it!  next time gotta hit henry's house and the tile factory museum that we only drove by.  here are some of the pictures from inside the museum (click here for more!):

we also walked around town and through the neighborhoods but my fingies were chilly so the camera stayed in my purse!

the night ended with a very tasty meal at Bar Savona...finally got to cross that off of my restaurant wish list!  only about 15 more to go!

reading terminal market food fest

seems like a million years ago that my friend jess suggested going to the reading terminal market and cooking up a storm with our tasty purchases.  just thinking about it makes me want to recreate the day all over again!

we started the trip off right with a delicious cookie and la columbe coffee while we attempted to narrow down the recipes we had poured through all week long in preparation for our food fest.

and now enter a day of food through the eye of my phone and retro camera app...

welcome to the market!! let the games begin!

probably made a mistake only getting coffee from here and not indulging in a cannoli right after our cookies!

making homemade pasta...papardelle, yum!

nutella creme brulee fresh out the oven

must have more pasta!!! 

cake pops from jess's mom and honey stix from the market

fresh chick peas lightly steamed with a little kick of chipotle

attempting to open oysters with a screwdriver and a mechanics glove...actually worked better than trying to find an oyster knife which seem to only exist in fish markets. 

only 3 cheeses?! cheese snobs in the market thought 4 would've been too much 4 people...dopes.  accompanied by grain mustard, honey and turkish figs.

apple, turnip and potato soup - so flippin' fantastic.  think it was a bon appetite recipe.

terribly out of focus picture of brussel sprouts, walnuts and raisins. 

pasta with a cream mushroom sauce...wish i had some of this in the fridge right now!

emma attempting to bring her stick inside.

 

one dessert is never enough so we made mini key lime pies too!

oh my my my, time to head back to the market because i'm STARVING!!

ps...this is what happens when there's extra fruit lying around...

sistema + granola

this year for christmas, i bought mz the weirdest present ever...tupperware.  now granted it was just a small portion of his christmas presents, but i was REALLY excited about this purchase...so much so that i had to buy some for myself too!

can you think of anything nerdier?!

i was passing through macy's on my way out of the mall, with zero intention of even focusing my eyes on any of the stuff they have in there, when a martha stewart display caught my eye.  i had a plan to start bringing lunch in 2012 and martha was giving me just the extra push of motivation i needed!!  she brought this great system (Sistema) from new zealand, slapped her brand on it and i'm sure both companies are making a pretty penny right now.

here are the pieces that i purchased...and have been seriously obsessed with since the very first time i used them.  chances are if you comment on my sistema ware in the cafeteria i'll go into infomercial mode and tell you how phenomenal they are...you've been warned.  they really make me excited to make/eat lunch every day!

sandwich container: this bad boy has a spot for your sandwich and two smaller compartments for treats or other snacks...and there's a divider between both halves to keep everything nice and tidy.

salad container: the fork and knife are in 2 pieces each and they SNAP IN to the bottom of the tray that's in the container!! how great is that!?  there's also a cup for dressing.  i also have found myself using this container on occasion to tote leftover quesadillas...'dillas on the bottom, tomatoes, guac and beans on the top tray and a little sour cream in the dressing cup.

breakfast or soup: again, the spoon snaps in just like the salad container.  my favorite use for this is some outta this world barefoot contessa granola (with better dried fruits than cherries, ick) and either milk or yogurt...the tray ensures that your granola doesn't get soggy before you get a chance to devour it!

okay, who's hungry now!?

return of the blog + aston's 1st birthday

yeah buddy, i'm back in action.  i'm sure my return to blogging is as sensational as the prospect of allen iverson returning to the nba...but the good news is that i'm back and hopefully my brain space won't get too jumbled with non-bloggable things in the next few weeks so i'll have plenty of room to keep the posts flowing!

nearly a month ago, sheesh, such a slacker, we went to celebrate our friends' little guy turning one.  Seems like just yesterday we were stuffing him in a basket for pictures (flashbacks available here & here!):

Aston's still super tiny, I think he just really wants to stay a baby forever! :)  But he has grown some killer hair in the past year...really shiny, auburn and curly!  Too cute!!

I think it took him a while to warm up to the whole birthday party idea, but once that giant cupcake cake was plopped in front of him he didn't seem to have another care in the world...even the party hat was ignored!

All in all, it was a great party with delicious food and lots of chocolate!!

For more party pics, click here.

See ya back here soon...there's more in store...

breaking bad + valentine's day

valentine's day is just around the corner...that day that everyone either loves or dreads.  filled with clashing pinks and reds and all sorts of mushy things that would make people vom on any normal day.  i'm not a huge fan, i think it's kinda ridiculous and overrated...BUT...these valentine's day cards are down right PERFECTION!!  makes me wish it was acceptable for (almost) 30 year olds to hand out valentine's day cards to everyone i see!

if you don't watch breaking bad, you won't understand how wonderful these little cards are.  then again, if you don't watch breaking bad i don't know if we should be friends anymore.

(found here, created by her)

on another note, the website where i found these cards is my new found obsession (thanks K!).  it makes me chuckle just about every single time that i check out the new finds...or maybe it's just the website's name and my love for bacon that makes me smile, either way it makes me happy!

borrowed notes

i'm sitting here listening to some free (& legal) music on spotify and pondering where i stand on the whole  internet/copyright infringement crackdown debate so i figured i'd highlight some musical magic that i 'found' on some of the other blogs that i frequent...

who knew that flute could be so intense?! apparently part of the national high school championship includes a beatbox requirement.  i've watched a few versions on youtube, but like the one that j* had up on her blog the best.  to see some 'flutebox' songs from the master, check this site out.



although i didn't pay too much attention to the lyrics or singing prowess of the guy in the next video, his wife's reaction shows makes his seem like a rockstar.  and with valentine's day right around the corner, i figured i'd share.  you've got to go over to style me pretty's site to read the full story, so sweet!

light up the sky - nye 2011

for me, new year's eve normally ends up being extremely underwhelming.  i'm not so interested in paying a ridiculous amount of money to go to a hotel party with a bunch of strangers...or standing out in the freezing cold being herded like cattle (again with a bunch of strangers) just to see a sparkly ball fall from the sky.  just not my thing and i'm perfectly happy going to be at 9:30 most nights so the last night of the year isn't usually much different!

this year, we decided (the sister included in the 'we') that we were going to shake things up a bit!  we were going to plan something that would be fun and memorable.  it was way easier than i thought...just pick a place for dinner, invite some wonderful family members and friends, crank up the tunes and wham-bam-thank you ma'am, you've got yourself a great NYE!  donning mom's fur coats and coming home to dad dancing on a chair only added to the entertainment for the evening.  i was pretty darn pleased that we managed to have a non-boring night.

but then kara went and did something extra special...she ordered WISH LANTERNS!!  oh my gosh, i've seen these on youtube and on wedding websites (which i still stalk even though i was married 4.5 years ago) and i think they are just so fascinating!!  i'm so so happy she bought them (from some super sketchy website) for us all to enjoy.  i want them for all events and even the non-events...like 'woo-hoo, it's a 3 day weekend, let's send off some wish lanterns' kinda thing.  they definitely made our NYE magical.  just so glad no one caught on fire! ;-)

the fab sis also surprised me & mz with a super cute HD video camera which helped create this mashup of our wish lantern extravaganza at the uri bay campus.  make a wish!

have you heard: Gotye + Cover

i'm currently superbly obsessed with the song 'somebody that i used to know' by gotye (featuring kimbra).

one - it's mellow...but then fierce! and pretty different from the usual radio hits.

two - kimbra.  i mean come on, she sounds like she should be a member of jem & the holograms or something equally awesome.  and her voice is fantastic.

three - there's this cover of it that i cannot stop watching (thank you Alt Nation for telling me...and 27mm other listeners!)



need i say more?!

ps...i know the first link is not the 'official' music video, but the official one freaks me out a bit.

busy season + i might be a hoarder

mz's busy season has officially begun which means he's working saturdays for the next few months...which means i have lots of time on saturday mornings to myself.  sometimes that means waking up and watching some terrible movie or a disney flick, but other times (like today) it means busy season for me too.  busy with cleaning or crafts or projects or cooking...really anything i can think of to be productive so i don't feel super guilty when he gets home from a day of work and i've done absolutely nothing.

today i was tempted to read the hunger games all day (just started book 2 - SO hooked!!) but decided to tackle the basement instead.  in general, i'm not much of a cleaner but boy do i love to organize!!  our basement is small but it's got a whole lotta junk (and good stuff) down there and all of it seemed to move into the middle of the floor over the holiday season, so it was high time to find it all a home.  after 5 hours, 6 broken nails and about 2 tons of inhaled dirt/dust, it's looking really awesome.  there's so much space and i got rid of some old stuff (like the box to my first ipod...mini) so it was a great accomplishment.  and my craft table is finally cleared off so maybe i can start to actually DO some crafts!

while in the basement i finally admitted to myself that i might have a card/paper hoarding problem...not that i thought up a solution or did anything about it, but admitting it is the first step, right?!  i mean there are boxes upon boxes of postcards, letters, birthday cards sitting on a shelf...so if you've ever written to me, consider it saved and cherished.  it's not a new thing, i have cards from some of my earliest birthdays sitting in a nightstand in ri (sorry mom! clutter!!).  anyone have any good ideas on how to better store cards...or a method to eventually purge some of them??

i also have stacks of beautiful cards, paper and pens that i've picked up along my travels or that has been gifted to me.  i set a goal last year to send more letters but failed miserably.  i love writing and love sending/receiving mail, but sometimes i just hate to send my paper away!  totally nuts, huh?!  so i'm going to keep that as a goal this year and try harder...maybe if you heckle me and/or send me your address i'll start filling your mailbox!

hope you're having a happy (and productive) weekend!

9 days into the year and i'm already behind!

while all of my favorite blogs are posting recaps of 2011, setting goals for 2012 and moving forward with new and exciting projects, i've been in blog procrastination mode and am light years behind!  i was so wrapped up in the spirit of the holidays and enjoying time with my family that i kept all of my pictures safely stored in my camera and avoided blogger like the plague.  and then i pretty much got the plague.  or the flu, same diff.  so i decided that enough was enough, time to attempt to play catch up and get this year back on track!!  here are all of the things i meant to post many moons ago.  and since i'm still sick (aka have an excuse to be lazy) i'm going to be heavy on the pictures and light on the words for now...

oh dear!

jamestown, ri bridge

walk near rome point, ri after thanksgiving

poor mz, everyone wants a piece of him...or the ipad.

our skinny little tree.  probs would've been prettier with the lights ON!  i love christmas ornaments, they're my favorite travel souvenir.

random house in bridgeport with crazy decorations

kinda love the hokey signs that welcome you to our town.

our house!

we spent christmas in new jersey with the zonies clan and we took advantage of the beautiful weather by taking a family picture outdoors.  it was a wonderful christmas and a fabulous holiday season!

after christmas, we headed up to RI and at the end of the week some of our philly friends joined in on our holiday vacation craziness...

castle hill, newport, ri

the breakers

oooh nooo!!!  caution on the cliff walk.

i'll try to keep the procrastination to a minimum for the rest of the year!