Here and gone

All traces of the holidays have left the building (literally and figuratively). We took down the decorations Monday night and it was back to the grind yesterday. I really can’t complain though, since our time off was well spent with friends, family and a healthy dose of date nights!

Here are some highlights:

Had my first red cup of the season.


Saw Young Adult and loved it. Charlize Theron was perfect for the role.


Discovered a new Pinot Noir that I like.

Went on a beautiful birthday celebration/double date night with Kristen and Sean at Longwood Gardens and Dilworthtown Inn.

Kristen and I at Longwood Gardens. Here is a full recap of the night.

Got 1 mani and painted my nails 2 more times.

Zoya Shay w/Sally Hansen Gem Crush in Big Money as an accent nail
Venique in B-Ceen-B-Gorgeous w/Venique in Twinkling Glitter as an accent nail


Revlon Scene Stealer

Had a fun shopping day in Delaware with my mom and got Red Robin…yum!

Went to WWE Raw with Geof (since he's taken me to see Britney and Lady Gaga). I’d be lying if I said I wasn't a little interested in the storylines. We went to Denny’s afterwards and some of the wrestlers showed up.

Geof and I at the Wells Fargo Center, me with The Miz and Zack Ryder, Geof with Nikki Bella and me with Dolph Ziggler

Watched Elf for the first time ever.


Drove around and looked at pretty Christmas lights.

Saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Besides a few differences from the book, I thought the movie was done really well.


Finally saw Love and Other Drugs (first half – good, second half – depressing).


Went down to the city to have lunch at Reading Terminal Market and then went to Macy’s to see the light show. It’s also where the movie Mannequin was filmed!




Baked lots of Christmas goodies.

Spent Christmas Eve at home with my mom and Geof.


Spent Christmas Day at my cousin Bill & Lara’s house with the entire family. I had such a blast with all of my cousins.

Me with two out of the three triplets on Christmas

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and are gearing up for the new year!

Weekend recap

Friday, we took my mom out to dinner to celebrate her birthday. We gave her a choice and she wanted Don Pablo’s. I’m definitely her daughter because I love that place. We always offer up something fancy, but she goes for nice and easy.


OOTN for dinner with the fam!


My sockbun obsession

Saturday, we had skating and then Geof and I went out to see Paranormal Activity 3. It was really scary and got me the worst of all of them. I’d be lying if I said my mind wasn’t reeling with scary thoughts before I went to sleep that night.



Sunday, we ran some errands and then our friends Kristen and Sean came over. We headed over to Brit and Mike’s house for a delicious spaghetti dinner and some sweet treats (Kristen whipped up the best pumpkin cupcakes). After dinner, we headed out to Bates Motel. We survived the hayride, corn maze and haunted house. I didn’t even freak out when the chainsaw guy came after us (a first for me!). The whole night was a blast with good friends and good times.



Monday I took the day off and did some shopping with my mom. I’ll have to share some of my finds later in the week. I also painted my nails with the shade Cool Couture from Maybelline. It’s a great blue for fall and winter.


Cool Couture from Maybelline

Weekend recap

It has been forever since I’ve written a weekend recap and it feels good to be getting things back to normal around here. I had a pretty fall-tastic weekend with great friends and here’s what we did.

Friday, Geof and I went with some friends to Pennhurst Asylum for some haunts. This was the first time we’ve been there for the Halloween attractions and once we got there, I realized how creepy the place is on it’s own without being all decked out for Halloween. It was an actual mental asylum that operated 75+ years. They had 4 attractions; the Asylum, Tunnel of Terror, Ghost Hunt and Dungeon of Lost Souls. Every one of them was very scary, but the tunnel spooked me the most.

Saturday, I went ice skating and brought my friend Kristen along. It was her first time skating and she did a great job. After skating, Kristen’s husband Sean came down along with our other friends Colleen and Donald for a triple date night. We went to Linvilla Orchards, took a “Harvest Moon” hayride, went to see the animals, Pumpkinland and finally checked out the Farmers Market. We made the visit complete with some of their delicious apple cider donuts! After Linvilla, we went out for pizza and beer at Pinocchio’s.


Date night at Linvilla!


The girls at Linvilla


Sweet little Deer that I got to feed


Colleen and I...the sunset was breathtaking Saturday night

Sunday was spent relaxing after cramming so much in on Friday and Saturday. It was a very lazy day of everything from watching football to Father of the Bride.

Chicago trip – Day 1

We just got back from Chicago on Sunday and what a whirlwind weekend it was. We were able to visit because Geof received an invite to attend a movie premiere as part of his blog/contest being held. It was pretty last minute and the producers flew us out, put us up for one night at The Allerton and invited us to the premiere of Fancypants where we got to walk the red carpet. It felt pretty cool to have a bunch of shutterbugs flashing cameras in our faces and asking us questions. We also got to sit in between the stars of the film and it felt like something straight out of Hollywood. Geof also had to get up and speak briefly in front of the crowd of 400+ people and he did awesome.


OOTN for the premiere!


Geof and I on the red carpet

The rest of the trip was for relaxation. After the movie, we went back to our hotel, got changed and hopped in a cab bound for Kuma’s Corner. This is a place Geof has raved about for the past few years and has never been able to take me to because he’s only been there when he travels to Chicago for work. Let me just tell you that this place had the BEST Mac ‘n Cheese I have ever had. They also had an awesome beer selection and the most unique burgers I’ve ever seen, all named after heavy metal bands. I got the Pantera Burger complete with Roasted Poblano Pepper, Bacon, Cheddar, Monterey Jack, house made Ranchero Sauce and Tortilla Strips. This place is out in the suburbs of Chicago and definitely a hidden gem. They had a funny joke up on the chalkboard that said “Why did the hipster burn his mouth on pizza?”…”He ate it before it was cool”. That one really had me laughing. I can see why it’s rated #52 out of #3,076 restaurants on TripAdvisor.


Food at Kuma's Corner

After Kuma’s, we went back to our hotel that was right in the heart of the Magnificent Mile on Michigan Ave. We took a late night stroll and stumbled upon The Drake hotel completely by accident. This was on my “must see” list while we were there because one of my favorite movies of all time, My Best Friend’s Wedding was filmed there. The hotel was as beautiful and opulent as I expected and we walked in like we owned the place which afforded me the opportunity to snap some pics like the ridiculous tourist that I am.


Outside The Drake


Beautiful ballroom inside The Drake. I can't imagine how gorgeous a wedding would be in this room.


Geof on Michigan Ave.

I’m baaaaack!

That’s right everyone. My unofficial blog hiatus is over and I’m glad to be blogging again. Leaving wasn’t planned and there were many times I wanted to come back, but just didn’t have it in me. Between work and life, I lost my mojo. The creative juices weren’t flowing and I didn’t want to just blog for the sake of blogging. For those that are reading this, I sincerely thank you for not deserting me and I hope you’ll continue to stay along for the ride.

Here are some of the highlights and interesting tidbits of the last 2 ½ months!

Chad & Amy (our friends from BCE 1 & BCE 2) came out to visit us and we took them down to the Jersey Shore. Our other friends Tracy and Stephanie came later on in the weekend the whole gang got to sightsee in Philadelphia. We did everything from Reading Terminal Market to the “Rocky Steps” at the Art Museum.


Survived my first and hopefully last Earthquake

Spent as much time as possible at the pool


Read…a lot. I’ve definitely discovered a new hobby (this book was also really good btw).


Made it through Hurricane Irene

Chester Count Restaurant Festival


Lots of dinner and movie dates!


That’s about it. We also just get back from Chicago over the weekend and I cannot wait to share all of our adventures from while we were there!

Weekend recap

This was easily the best weekend of the summer…so far. Friday, my mom took Geof and I out to The Melting Pot to celebrate our birthdays. We had a great server who really hooked us up on the cheese and chocolate courses. Everything was delicious and we had a really nice time.


Painted my nails with OPI's Flit A Bit


Dinner at The Melting Pot

Saturday, Geof and I got up bright and early and headed to Six Flags Hurricane Harbor. It was in the mid 80’s and perfect water park weather. We went slipping and sliding, jumped waves and floated along the lazy river all day long. Exhaustion set in around 6. We got a quick bite at McDonald’s (which from the heat and running around all day tasted like the best Mickey D’s I ever had in my life) and then made our way back to PA.


Lazy River at Hurricane Harbor


Another pretty summer sunset

Sunday, we spent the afternoon at the pool. The weather was hot and the pool was cool, just how I like it. Later in the night, Geof went out with one of his buddies and my mom and I went to Target.

Weekend recap

As you know, Friday was a bad day and I won’t get into that again. Thank you to everyone that left me a sweet comment on my post. It made me feel much better.

Saturday, we worked around the house and ran errands. I had baked cupcakes for Geof’s birthday on Thursday and we celebrated in the evening with those and some homemade tacos. I also managed to paint my nails later in the evening.


Geof's birthday cupcakes!


Wet n Wild's Wave of Enchantment

Sunday, Geof and I had a date day and went to see Transformers 3 in 3D but not before a quick stop at Ulta (I couldn’t resist). The movie was definitely more of dude flick and not for me. I’ll give credit for the special effects, but it was way too long at almost 2.5 hours.



After the movies, we went to McKenzie’s Brew House for dinner. We’d never been there before and it was a great choice because the food was delicious. We had a Fontina Fondue for an appetizer and Geof got one of the McKenzie Wit beers they brew in-house. For dinner, Geof got a deal that couldn’t be beat. He got his beer, a salad, filet mignon crowned with beer battered onion rings and a baked potato for $20. I know what I’m getting next time! I was boring and got meatloaf, but it was so good. Comfort food like that soothes the soul.


Gorgeous summer sunset


McKenzie's Brew House

Monday was spent relaxing around the house and I unfortunately had work that needed to be done, so it was a very quiet 4th. The most excitement was watching Sara Bareilles play at the Philadelphia Welcome America Celebration. As much as I want to go down there and see the talent live each year, it’s not worth it and I’d much rather just watch from my living room in HD.

I hope you all had a fun, long weekend!

Weekend recap

I’ve been so busy (hence my lack of blogging) and decided that enough was enough. This was a weekend to relax and get some fun back in my life.

Friday, we made a quick mall run and then hit Arby’s for dinner. We stayed in the rest of the night and relaxed. Just what I needed after a long week.

Saturday, Geof and I went to Spice for dinner and I got my usual Indian dish (Chicken Tikka Masala). It was so good, as always. From dinner we went to the movies to see X-Men: First Class. It was really good and kept my attention the entire film. I’m not into comic books, but have seen all of the other X-Men movies and it was interesting to see the backstory on Professor X and Magneto. Sorry if I sound like a huge nerd right now, but I love superhero-ish movies. Hugh Jackman also made a cameo which was a nice little surprise. Jennifer Lawrence played the young Mystique and I’m realizing more than ever how absolutely gorgeous she is. Kevin Bacon also played a great bad guy. There really aren’t enough good things to say about this movie.



Chicken Tikka Masala



Sunday, our friends Kristen and Dan came over and we headed down to World Café Live in the city to see The Daylights and The Parlotones. We met up with our friends Emily and Jen and all had a really nice time. We first saw The Daylights on the Vh1 Best Cruise Ever and became fans there. It was nice to see them again and they sounded fantastic. The Parlotones are a band from South Africa and they were great as well. It was the last night of their tour together, so both bands played plenty of pranks on one another during their sets.


Geof and I with Ran from The Daylights


The Parlotones

Monday I took the day off and Kristen and I went to the pool. Pure relaxation!

Weekend recap

Friday I took the day off and our friends Stephanie and Tracy from Maryland came up for the evening. We went to happy hour at The Deck for a bit and then headed down to The Mann Center in the city for The Script concert. We got these tickets weeks ago and found out that SafetySuit was recently added to the tour. You all know they’re my favorite band, so to get to see both was an awesome plus. Some of our other friends were at the concert and Dawn and Stacy had extra tickets in better seats so we moved down to be with them. The weather could not have been better for a show at an outdoor venue and seeing both bands took me right back to a few weeks ago when we saw them on the VH1 Best Cruise Ever. After the show we waited around and got to see the guys from The Script. They’re so down to earth and nice, especially for being as popular as they are.


Tracy, Stephanie, Geof and I at The Deck


Us with Danny from The Script

Saturday, Geof and I went to Linvilla Orchards for the Strawberry Festival. The weather was nice and not too hot. We went to feed the deer and then took a hayride out to the strawberry fields to roll up our sleeves and get to picking. We only picked the best and made it a nice afternoon out of it. No matter what season it is, I love spending time at Linvilla.


Strawberry Festival

Sunday, we got my mom and went to the movies to see Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in 3D. I loved it and it’s probably my favorite movie of the summer season so far. I hope this ignites a new series in the Pirates franchise as the movie certainly left it open for more. I also loved Penelope Cruz as the leading lady.


On Stranger Tides

After the movies, we went to Pinocchio’s and then headed and caught some of the MTV Movie Awards. Every year that I watch, I cringe little more and it makes me feel so old, yet I continue to tune in.