Year in review: Personal and Pop Culture

2009 was a good year overall and I got to experience many things and places that I never had before. Here are some quick highlights from each month:

January – Brought in the New Year with Geof and Kelly at Barnaby’s. A good time was had by all and it was the perfect way to start 2009.


Kelly and me on New Year's Eve

February – Went to Las Vegas with Geof for Valentine’s Day. It was a work trip for him and I got to tag along. We were able to spend a good amount of time together and he made Valentine’s Day an unforgettable evening. We went to Prime for dinner and saw “O” at The Bellagio.


Geof and me in Vegas at The Bellagio

March – Successfully had our first ice show in awhile at the rink that I teach at. Geof and I went to the Nickelback concert and it was such a good show.


Geof and Me at The Nickelback concert

April – Went to Orlando with my mom for a mother/daughter trip. She had always wanted to swim with the dolphins, so I took her to Discovery Cove to do just that. It was her belated Christmas present from Geof & me.


My Mom and me at Discovery Cove

May – Geof and I went to a Phillies game and Chase turned 2. It was a pretty uneventful month.


Mandy and Chase for his 2nd Birthday

June – Summer fun! Pool time, Phillies game, date nights with Geof and some fun girls’ nights.


Geof and me at our first Phillies game of the season

July – Geof and I celebrated our birthdays. His is technically June 30th, but we celebrated in July. Some more fun girls’ nights, beach time and I met Danny Bonaduce.


Danny Bonaduce and me


Geof and me on my birthday

August – Fun girls’ nights at The Deck and more beach time in Atlantic City. I also got to go to another Phillies game.


Bally's Bikini Beach Bar in Atlantic City

September – HAWAII! This was by far the highlight of my year and the best trip I have ever been on in my entire life. I also jumped off a cliff when I was there, which was pretty insane. It was a rush and I’m glad that I did it. I also got to go to the Britney Spears concert.


I miss those Hawaiian sunsets


Happy in Hawaii


Cliff I jumped off of at Waimea Bay

October – Geof and I celebrated our 1-year anniversary as husband and wife. The beginning of fall arrived and we got to see some postseason Phillies baseball at Citizen Bank Park.


Geof and me at NLCS Game 5

November – Finally went to see a World Series game live. I also got to meet some bloggers at a meet-up and spent Thanksgiving with the family.


Blogger meet-up in King of Prussia

December – Braved the biggest snowstorm on record in December with Geof and had a cozy weekend. It was also a wonderful family Christmas!


December snow
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Top 10 2009 Pop Culture Highlights...in no particular order, according to me

10. Horrible parents – Jon & Kate, Octo-Mom and the Heene’s
9. The year of Gaga – she came out of nowhere and in my opinion dominated the music scene the entire year. I’m a huge fan.
8. Chris Brown & Rhianna fight
7. Twitter
6. Vampires rule
5. Susan Boyle
4. Kanye West/Taylor Swift VMA’s
3. Tiger Woods scandal
2. The Hangover…funniest movie all year
1. Michael Jackson’s death

What were some of your highlights of the year? Any major pop culture events I forget?

Christmas weekend recap

I hope that everyone had a very Merry Christmas! I know that I did. It was filled with lot of family, fun and food. Christmas Eve was spent at our house with my mom. I spent the afternoon running last minute errands and making cake balls. In the evening, Geof, my mom and I spent some family time together watching National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation and A Christmas Story. We had lots of delicious treats and my mom and Geof fell asleep very early.

Christmas Eve filled with lots of wine and cake balls!

Christmas morning was spent at our house and we opened gifts and stockings. Geof loved the surprise that I got for him. It’s so hard hiding things when you both live under the same roof. I took all of his memorabilia from when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008 and had it professionally framed at Michael’s. He loved it! It’s so funny when you’re an adult how it gets better to give rather than to receive. Speaking of receiving, I got some delightful gifts too. My mom got me the beautiful Murfee scarf from Lilly Pulitzer and some pretty earrings from Kate Spade. She also got me this cute leopard infinity scarf from The Limited. Geof got me the gray Uggs that I wanted in addition to the Tiffany Key Pendant and the Junior Drake Tabitha bag that I wanted. He also got me some really cute stuff from Etsy and the J. Crew ring that I had asked for.

Bag, Uggs, Lilly box and J. Crew ring. Please excuse the pics of my with crazy hair and zero makeup.

Kate Spade earrings and Cupcake necklace from Etsy

Tiffany Key necklace and pretty Lenox Ornament that my mom got us

The tree Christmas morning and yule log on TV. It will have to do until we have a real fireplace! Here is Geof's favorite stocking.

The dogs enjoying Christmas. Mandy likes her new toy!

Geof's present and he also loved the book I got for him...The Bro Code from How I Met Your Mother. We love that show!

Christmas evening, we went to my Aunt & Uncle’s house for a big Christmas dinner. The food was so good and it was great to see everyone. My Aunt Beth and Uncle Tim ended up coming back to our house because the kids wanted to see the dogs. They’re the aunt and uncle with a son and triplets. They are the sweetest children and awesome cousins. Sarah (one of the triplets) is so crafty and crocheted scarves for Geof and me for Christmas. It was the sweetest thing ever and very thoughtful.

Us at my aunt & uncle's, desserts and scarves my cousin made for us!

Family

I have to say that Saturday and Sunday were pretty lazy days. Saturday afternoon, we went to Olive Garden for lunch and then to the mall for a bit to checkout some of the after Christmas sales. When we came home, we started watching the first season of Dexter and I am hooked.

Sunday, we watched more Dexter and then I got some motivation to clean out some of our closets with Geof. I see a trip Goodwill in our future for a big drop off. We had Taco Bell for dinner and then more Dexter. We watched the entire first season in 2 days. I can’t wait to get started on season 2.

How was your holiday weekend?

3 Years

On this night 3 years ago, Geof proposed. I will remember this night forever and actually put it up there with my wedding day in terms of the best days of my life. He could not have made it any more special than it was. It was perfect.


Us at Longwood Gardens


Pretty lights at sunset


Ice rink where skaters performed vignettes


A little bit after he popped the question. He looks so relieved.



Fountain show


Roses at Dilworthtown Inn

Weekend recap

Friday, we knew we had to get plenty done with the impending snowstorm. We ran a few errands, which was near impossible with the holiday/pre-storm traffic and then had to run home to scoop up the dogs for their annual vet appointment. Later we had to run back out to pick Geof’s car up from the mechanic and as I was following him home, I saw him get pulled over by a cop, when I knew he did nothing wrong. He got home about 5 minutes after me and said they were looking for some guy that drives the same kind and color car as Geof’s. He was laughing about it, while I was a nervous wreck. We watched some TV and I crashed on the couch.

Saturday was the beginning of the snowstorm. We slept in late and then Geof shoveled for the first time of many to come. We were around the TV most of the day and I finally was able to catch up on blogs. Geof made us a delicious dinner and then we watched the Saints/Cowboys game, the news and SNL.

15 inches

Yummy dinner Geof made Chase in his Xmas sweater

Sunday involved a lot of shoveling and wrapping gifts. We helped a few of our elderly neighbors in the condos behind us and were able to get our cars dug out. I got most of the gifts wrapped and then made pizza for Geof and I for dinner.


Lots of gift wrapping


Pretty candle from our neighbor

They called this snowstorm one of the worst in Philadelphia history and the worst ever in December. I’m glad that we stayed in!

RIP Brittany Murphy

This morning at only 32 years old, Brittany Murphy passed away. I was incredibly saddened and shocked to see this. She was so funny and seemed like a really sweet person. She was also in 2 of my favorite movies, Clueless and Just Married. I’ll also never forget the character that she played in Don’t Say A Word. A few summers ago, she did a song with Paul Oakenfold, called Faster Kill Pussycat that I played on repeat. She was such a talent and will be missed.

Rest in peace.


Brittany Murphy


As Tai in Clueless


She was so cute with Ashton in Just Married

With Michael Douglas in Don't Say A Word