NYC visit iPhone dump

Hello Lovlies!

I hope everyone had a great weekend. I'm updating today because I was sick as a dog yesterday, literally. I think I caught a 24 hour stomach bug. Gross. SO glad it's overwith.

Our weekend was AMAZING. We visited our friends Ariel and Ben in NYC and had such a great time. Friday we went out to dinner at a cute little Thai place (hello delicious little peanut sauce noodles) then headed out for some drinks afterwards. Saturday we had breakfast at a cute little diner (hello eggs benedict on top of crab cakes!!) then headed to the Staten Island Ferry to see the Statue of liberty.

All I can say is... beautiful views of the city. Just beautiful.

Following that, we headed to the Natural History Museam, which was awesome. Hubs loved the planaterium.  By the time we were done exploring, we were all exhausted. We headed back to their apartment to rest before heading out for the night... and boy was the night epic.

The evening started off with a 2.5 hour open bar/dinner. It. was. awesome. We were celebrating Ben's graduation from Columbia with a PHD in civil engineering. (Yay Ben!) Afterwards we went to a bar then club to continue with the fun (aka drinking vodka sodas and backing that thang up). We didn't get home until 4 am. Best night out in a while. Def was sore from all the dancing we did.

Sunday, Ariel and I got up and headed to pick up some NYC bagels for breakfast (also amazingly delish). Afterwards, hubs and I had to head to the bus stop to catch our ride home (sad).

We had so much fun haning out and catching up with our friends. They are such great people and so much fun to be around. I took a ton of pics on my regular camera of the weekend, but for now, below is an Iphone dump of pics from the weekend.

Cheers!
Caitlin

"Spring Break"

I wish the term spring break meant what it used to... aka  no responsibilities for a week straight (or drinking obscene amounts of booze while partying like it's 1999 on a beach somewhere). Instead, this week it means no grad classes (and also some partying). I still have a luminous research paper hanging over my head (boo), but I don't have to show up to class and for that, I am celebrating! I kicked off my spring break on Friday with an at home "happy hour". Hubs and I poured the wine and cut the cheese!

Saturday, we celebrated St. Patty's day at a local Irish pub. There were just enough people, the perfect amount of sunlight, great company, plenty of drinks and a pipping band. It was awesome.

Yesterday we got out in the yard and played around in the sun did some yard work. It was so much fun! I'm sure the novelty of doing yard work will soon wear off, but for now, we had a blast. We cut the grass, planted some flowers, fertilized and planted an herb garden. We ended the weekend with a nice Sunday dinner (a tradition in our house).

We are also puppy sitting for our good friends Gina and John. Miss Polly has been a doll.

 (notice our little guy in the pic above)

(catching some rays on the deck)

This week I will be continuing to hit the gym hard. I am determined to get it tight/get it right for Vegas!! We will be continuing the awesomeness of spring break in NYC for a long weekend visiting our friends Ariel and Ben.

I hope everyone had just as fun of a weekend!

Cheers!
Caitlin

...blogger brake

I'm back and more committed than ever.

I admit, I am not the most consistent best blogger in the world. I really enjoy it and always have great ideas for things to blog about or things I want to get out- then something comes up and before I know it, the day has run out. I get it we all are overwhelmed busy,  but we need to make time for things that we enjoy.

So... with that said...

I've had a Revelation. This is important to me! I want to be a blogger and I want to document certain parts of my life. So today bloggy friends, I'm back! For good. I'm going to write like I type and go with the flow. If I get the itch to blog about something, I will. If I don't, I'm still going to post about what's on my mind- at least once per week. This is my blog, it's time I start acting like it.

No excuse, blog like a champion. (Lame awesome saying, I know)

So for today, I leave you with...

Random thoughts from the last month

• We've hosted two awesome events at our humble abode recently:
• "parents dinner" with BFF and our fams
• Chopped! dinner party with our friends

Both nights were SO much fun and very successful. I will do a post with pics of both over the weekend. Promise.

• I have been hitting the workouts HARD lately. I am all over running outside, boxing class with my girl P and lifting in the gym. I've also been doing the "my fitness pal" app for iphone to track my calories and eating habits. I'm determined to be a hott chick in Vegas come June.

That leads me to my next random point...

• We booked VEGAS (!!!!!!!!) for the baby bros big 2-1! I cannot wait!!! The hubs, brother and I will be partying it up in Vegas for 4 days. We've never been and plan to live.it.up!

Yay!!! Can't wait. Moving on...I don't know about you all but...

• I am all about these spring trends. It has been in the upper 70's all week here and it has got me so excited for spring. Pastel pants, color blocking, fresh makeup. Loving it. I feel bad for the hubs, I've been hitting up the mall as a result. At least I'm getting some good sales! (Right hubs?)
• I will have a few upcoming posts this week:
• My first home "art" project for the guest bedroom
• The fun events we've hosted at our house

Until then- enjoy your St. Patty's day this weekend! I know we will be! We will be hitting up a fun Irish bar at 10 am this Saturday for Irish coffee, car bombs and a live Irish band! I'm definitely not Irish, but we all can pretend for one day...right? ;)

Cheers!
Caitlin

Hott-Mess

... So remember all that "me time" I was posting about here? Well, I have slipped back into old habbits.

Crap!

With three grad classes and new house tasks, I am once again forgetting about my own sweet self.

I am doing a great boxing class twice per week with my friend P and we are getting our butts kicked but I haven't been to the gym since my trip to Detroit two weeks ago.

Not good. Not happy. Fixing it.

I saw a great pin on Pinterest that says "Today I will love myself enough to go to the gym". I will be printing this out and posting it in my bedroom... and maybe even my cube at work.

To further my "hott messness"...I noticed last week that I have not painted my nails in a month! A MONTH! To some, it sounds riddiculous that this would bother me. To me, this is a big deal. Painted nails make me feel confident and put together. So tonight- I have a hot date with my mani/pedi set after a nice long run on the treadmill.

This hott mess is getting back on track ASAP!

List update: Below are the 101 list items that are in progress or completed!

5. Send an email or letter three times complementing a job well done at work (1/3)
- I sent an email to the boss of one of the guys in my office who always helps me with my InfoPath forms. I hate those forms and he always assists with a smile. I wanted to make sure his boss knows how friendly and helpful he is.

6. Buy a home with my husband
HOLY COW! I'm a homeowner!

9. Buy a living room set
Check! Pictures of the house will be in a future post...

11. Hang window coverings on all windows in each major room (Kitchen, living room, master bedroom, guest bedroom, rec room). I really think this makes a house a home. (5/5)
done! Notice I said windows... I still have a slider to cover but the windows are done!

15. Explore two more states/regions I've never been to (0/2)
Can't really cross this off, but a trip is planned for the baby bro's 21st!

31. Cook a dinner with BFF Julie for our parents annually (1/3)
This weekend is the anual parents dinner at our new house. Post on that this Sunday.

34. Save $100 every month (5/36)

46. Host at least one holiday dinner per year (0/3)
hosting Easter

56. Do a detox diet for a week
Did yeast free. loved it.

67. Have at least one friend get together every other month (4/14)
We are hosting a chopped competition March 10th. Can't wait!

73. Grow out hair to mid back length and enjoy it
We are there! I'm getting my hair done soon- I'll post a pic after. It's also a hott mess right now. :-/

77. Get 4 pedicures per year (1/12)
Got one for new years eve

92. Write a love letter once every six months (1/6)
Wrote Hubs a poem (a cheesy one, at that) for Love day last week.

94. Go on a walk or work out with my hubs once a week for six months (1/24)
We started this one with a walk on Saturday

95. Try at least one new dinner recipe per week (someone else’s) (20/143)

96. Create one new recipe every other week (my own-EEK!) (10/71)

98. Make Christmas cookies every year (1/3)

Cheers!
Caitlin

Happy Love Day!

I hope you all have hearts as full of love as I do today. I am really feelin' the love this week. Spending the weekend with my family was wonderful. I am so appreciative of the love we share and the relationship the five of us have. I think what we have is special and something to cherish. My parents showed my brother, Hubs and I a little extra love this weekend- made us feel extra special.

Check out the beautiful roses my sweet cheeks had sent to my work today. He is so sweet and thoughtful.

I know many think Valentines day is a "Hallmark holiday". For me, today is a day to hold a little tighter, love a little longer and let all the people you love know how much they mean to you.

Not to put a downer on all the love today, but yesterday I learned of the passing of a friend from highschool. At 26 his life had just begun and was cut short tragically by cancer. He left behind a beautiful baby girl and his loving wife. If anything, today, please hold onto your loved ones a little bit more. You can't take for granted any of the time you have with the people you love.

To all my family, friends and especially my Hubs- I LOVE YOU! You all mean the world to me, today and all the other 364 days of the year.

LOVE,
Caitlin

From the road!

Well my Hubs is super sweet and got me the iPhone for valentines day! I am in love...seriously not sure why I waited so long. This thing is amazing!

So this weekend the Hubs has drill so my parents suggested we take a day trip to Richmond to visit the little brother. They came down to our house last night and we are in their new car now heading to Richmond!

This week was a crazy one. I had class Monday night and left for Detroit for work Tuesday. I had an awesome trip . My partner Gipsy and I both gave great presentations and made great connections, however, we are the only people in the entire organization that do what we do so our email and voice mail was slammed when we got back into the office yesterday.

Before my rents got in last night, Hubs and I headed to Costco to buy a 60 inch plasma that we've been chatting about. With a family and living room, we knew we'd have to make some purchases when we moved in. Have to admit, I am loving the shopping and decorating!

This week should be fun! Our living room furniture gets delivered Monday and we have a valentines day date Tuesday! I love celebrating our love and I love that valentines day gives me an excuse to go overboard. :)

Hope you all have a great weekend!

Cheers,
Caitlin

We're Back!

Our internet was finally installed yesterday morning! Thank goodness!!!!! I was starting to feel really disconnected from the world. Before it's time to get ready for the big game, I thought I'd sign in and share some pictures from the move...

 Opening the door for the first time!

It's ours!!

s

So happy to be busy moving in :)

Hanging our "R" on the door. 

Painting the kitchen. Big thanks to my Brother, Mom and Dad and Julie for their help!

The pup found a place to relax 

Some more painting and unpacking

The kitchen is done!

As we get each room decorated, I'll post pictures to share.

So who are you routing for today? Go Pats!!!