Biebs

Next weekend is my birthday. Since we will be tied up with our last soccer commitment of the season (insert Hallelujah chorus here) Ryan made plans to celebrate my birthday this past weekend. I had often spoke of how much I had loved my 30th birthday and I wasn't sure if it could ever be topped.  I guess Ryan took this as a challenge because he told me to pack an overnight bag with warm clothes but he wouldn't say anymore than that.

We dropped Isaac off with his dad and started heading north.  I had tried to do some snooping and I had assumed we were heading for Washington DC, so then I was really baffled and actually kind of freaking out.  I don't like not being in control and not knowing the plan.   We drove along forever and then I finally deduced we were going to New York City.  After it seemed like we had been in the car for an eternity, I noticed a huge billboard for Justin Bieber's concer that night at the Meadowlands and then when we got off at the exit for the Meadowlands I began seriously freaking out. Yes, I may be turning 31 but I am a huge Justin Bieber fan.  I had REALLY, REALLY wanted to see him when he was in Philly, but we couldn't get tickets and I tried to be okay with that.  I was thrilled when I put it all together and was more than happy to join the throngs of purple shirted Beliebers heading into the show.

Through a long series of events, we ended up with FREE tickets in the thirteenth row, right near Govenor Christie's daughters and some Victoria Secret models.  We also spotted Perez Hilton.

 

 

The arena was deafening.  If I would have known better, I would have seriously worn earplugs or some kind of protective earcoverings. Justin started the show strapped to a pair of silver wings and flying out over the audience.  

 

 

 

 

Best iphone shot of the night.

 

 

He played a few guitar songs for the audience from a crane.

 

 

He also wore hammer pants the entire time.  I guess they are making a comeback with teen pop sensations.  Who knew?  The show was excellent, our seats were amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.  The only thing that would have made it better was if Isaac was there.  He would have loved it, and I felt more than a little guilty that I was seeing the Biebs without him.

 

After the show we drove into Manhatten and crashed.   The hotel was very beautiful and swanky.  Here is the view from our window.  It has been a few years since I have been up to the city.

 

 

Since we did not have to pay for our tickets to see the Biebs, we decided to spend that money on a Broadway show.  One of the first conversations Ryan and I had was about how he wanted to see the shows Mary Poppins or Spiderman.  So we decided to hop in the TKTS line in times Square to get tickets.   There must have been a hidden camera because we noticed ourselves on a big billboard in Times Square.

 

 

We ended up at the matinee for Mary Poppins. The show was great.  We had great seats there as well.  (Thanks mom and dad for chipping into the birthday fun fund!)  We ended up getting a bit lost and wandering around the city for a while.  We did Rockefeller Center, some shopping and dinner in Times Square.  There was so much we wanted to do, but didn't get a chance to, that we are already planning our next trip back.

 

Thanks for making my 31st birthday so special Ryan!

I was simply minding my own business...

Trying to relax on my last day of summer vacation with a good book in my parent's hammock.

Isaac was having none of that though...

Eventually I just gave up and let him have it...

On a less awkward note...

Jenny and Drew have a blog now! If you are interested, check it out! (If I did it right, their picture should be a link).

WILW

Reading! I've been tearing through a ton of Jennifer Weiner and I've almost knocked out The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins. I haven't been able to put them down. I also got a big package from Amazon yesterday with books for the next four months of book club so I'm excited to keep that up.

My new highlights. I finally have gotten my hair back to a brown I don't despise but I had her put in a few highlights for fun. It's so nice to finally have my roots touched up-- I don't think I can pull off the two tone look as well as SJP.

Chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Yummy.

These new shoes. They are pretty boring looking, but they will replace a totally worn out pair I wear to school all the time. They are brand new and I picked them up from a thrift store for 4.50!

This song/routine that we have been doing the past few weeks. You really get to channel your inner diva and throw around a ton of attitude. I love it.

Thanks for stopping by...

So Isaac has been begging for an escape to the beach. Finally, Thursday we had nothing planned, so I thought, why not? We had swim lesson in the morning and then we got on the road. I thought leaving around 11 would ensure that we would miss traffic but it was terrible the whole way there. Evidently President Obama was in town and there was also a Phillies game. Isaac was a trooper though and once we finally got over the bridge to Jersey we found Ocean City to be quite deserted and the perfect temperature.

We made sure we had plenty of time in the water and in the sand....

Isaac was so cute. He kept saying "This is fun, but the beach is more fun with your whole family." Then we did the old get changed with a towel wrapped around you trick (well, Isaac did. Not me!)

Of course we couldn't leave Ocean City without hitting the boardwalk. We went on a few rides....

and I almost got sick on the tilt-a-whirl, a sign that I am surely becoming really old. We also got some food, although we didn't sample what seems to be the big trend this summer:

A friend of mine assures me they are "life changing" but I don't want to find out.... There were also tons of crafty stuff. I took pictures of them to tuck away in my "things-I-could-probably-make-cheaper-if-only-I-had-the-time-and-motivation" file.

And of course, what would the Jersey shore be without the T-shirts? This was one of my favorites.

It was a lovely day. Hopefully we will be able to get down there a few more times before the summer slips away....

What I'm Loving Wednesday

Linking up to This Kind of Love for What I Love Wednesday....

I'm LOVING this nail polish: Sonic Bloom -the color on my toes currently. Sort of an electric tomato color. Plus I combined a coupon with a great sale and got it for like 1.50. Wahoo! LOVE a great deal.

I'm LOVING this song Good Life by One Republic:

I LOVE that Isaac and I were both cavity free at the dentist. Yay! After all of my dental nightmares this year, it was a relief to get the all clear finally.

I LOVE the Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. I need to buy the other two books in the Trilogy and get reading.

and lastly I LOVE that I've gotten back in touch with some old friends.

who cares if you disagree?

Do you guys know about Meghan Tonjes? I just discovered her recently and I looooooooooooooove her. And she did this cute cover of one of my favorite songs.

survey

Favorite time of day: That hour or so after Isaac goes to bed before I fall asleep. Favorite season: Oh gosh...I love them all for different reasons! Spring for the all the flowers blooming and just that feeling of renewal and life. Fall because it is sooooooooooo beautiful. Summer because of vacation and minimal work and the beach and family memories. Winter because of snow days and the holiday merriment. Favorite month: August. We tend to take our family vacation in August and then there is all of the fun back to school stuff. I love the anticipation of a new school year. Favorite holiday: Christmas :) Halloween is a close second.

Favorite subject in school: In high school I loved English and writing. In college I loved psychology classes, especially abnormal psych. After getting my undergrad and Masters...I'm over school for a little bit. When I pay down my student loans perhaps more school is in my future! One of my longterm goals is to get my doctorate. Favorite channel: Probably A and E. I actually don't watch too much TV these days though. Favorite color: pink! Favorite song: Oh gosh, so many. Catapult by Counting Crows will always be a favorite.

Favorite movie: Lars and the Real Girl Favorite celebrity: I do love Adam Duritz Favorite kind of music: Depends. As a general rule, I like pretty much all pop. Favorite TV show: Rupaul's Drag Race,Obsessed, Pushing Daisies, Intervention, Hoarders, Heavy, Beyond Scared Straight, Project Runway. Favorite thing to do: spend time with family, read, run around Philly with friends, go out to eat. Favorite place in the world: Jersey Shore. I'm a simple girl. Give me a beach, a good book, some fudge, and a porch swing and I'm good. Favorite hobby: Zumba. Favorite kind of animal: the cats. I have one good one and one naughty one.... Guess which one is running along the top of my kitchen cabinets? Favorite place to live: I liked living in Oaks. After Isaac is all raised I would like to live in Rittenhouse in the city. Favorite place to vacation: I've never been anywhere too exotic but anywhere I can get a tan is nice :) I really enjoyed spending time at my parent's time share in Orlando. Favorite restaurant: Oh gosh. I don't know. Anything with really good mexican food. Locally, I like every Stephen Starr restaraunt I've set foot in. Favorite food: ice cream :) Favorite thing to cook: Ha! Me? Cook? I make a mean grilled cheese. Favorite drink: Diet Coke. Favorite chore: folding clothes...for some reason I really don't mind this chore! Favorite makeup: Still loving Bare Minerals. Favorite hair products: I like Herbal Essenses. Nothing fancy anymore. Favorite lotion: Bath and Body Works Moonlight Path :) Favorite perfume: I really like Victoria Secret's Pink with a Splash. Also can't go wrong with Candies... Favorite blogger: Sooooooooo many. I love blogs and spend far too much time reading them.

• There's people I know IRL (Deeva has Spoken, Because All The Cool People Are Doing It)
• People I barely know IRL whose blogs I follow and enjoy (not linking up for fear of outing myself as a creeper)
• People I know in IRL who's blogs are not super interesting to me, but that I read occasionally to be supportive (sorry Tushar, tech talk is Greek to me--- Technical Fowl)
• Education reform type blogs (Leaving Behind the PSSA)
• Classroom idea blogs (Sarah's First Grade Snippets)
• Blogs by moms I met when I was pregnant on a babycenter forum and we've been in touch ever since watching our kids grow up (Tea and Topaz)
• Single gal blogs(Pillow Talk is Extra)
• Single mom blogs(Single Mom Survives!),
• Single Mormon girl blogs (The Law of Chastity and the Modern Mormon Girl

I could go on and on. I'm sure I probably have at least 100 blogs in my reader. Favorite thing to blog about: oh about anything. I always get a good response to the "e-harmony reject pile" posts. Favorite books: Oh gosh. I don't know. I try to read most of the current "Best Sellers". Also a fan of fluffy "Chick Lit". Favorite thing to wear: Sundress, flip flops, huge sunglasses. Favorite kind of day: One where I can sleep in, eat lunch my mom or girlfriends, Zwahlen's, some kind of fun adventure somewhere locally, a long, hot shower, then bed! Favorite memory: How do you choose a favorite? Disney with my parents and sister last year was a fantastic memory...

What I Love lately...

This necklace from Lia Sophia. My friend is having a party next week and I was browsing around on their sight to see if there was anything I could afford that appealed to me. This one is so darling.

Celestial Seasonings in Lemon Zinger. I have been starting off my mornings at work with this and also sipping on it in the evenings. So yummy... Ulta Eyeshadow in Peacock. My friend's sister works for Ulta and she tossed me a ton of full sized eye shadows. I ignored this one for a while because I felt like it was too wacky but it's actually very pretty. I wore it Friday night to my friend's birthday party and today for church. It's highly pigmented but it blends nicely. This song by Tiny Vipers. (Disclaimer - I am known to like really depressing music). My friend dragged me along to see her at Burlap and Bean last weekend. Honestly, she is a little on the awkward side live but I've been obsessed with this song ever since. I think it's so pretty especially 3:14 on.

Life is like a box of chocolates...

So I finally ventured out of my house today and checked the mail for the first time since Thursday. (EDITED to clarify I have ventured out of my house since Thursday. But I haven't checked the mail). And found a key in my mailbox. Which means.............. I have a package. A cute little package. Shipped priority. From Maryland. And when I opened it, look what I saw: (Sorry if it is huge. I have resized like 4 times in photobucket but it still comes up humungo in blogger)

It was filled with Flake Bars a yummy candy bar I fell in love with when I was in London. They are really hard to find in the USA. Remember summer dating guy? ("I'm not ready for a relationship with anyone, oh wait, now I'm dating an undergrad" -- that guy). A specialty grocery store by his house has a spot for them in the international aisle but more often than not they are out of stock. He would look for me when he would go grocery shopping and if they happened to be in stock he has picked them up for me before.

Well anyways, he sent me a whole pile of them for Christmas. Not from the specialty grocery store. But from a website.

I was so thrilled.

That's a whole lot of Flake bars. A whole lot of crumbly, flaky chocolatey goodness.

And I was pretty surprised.

I mean, I didn't even send him a Christmas card.

Yummmm....

If I can stop one heart from breaking,

I shall not live in vain;

If I can ease one life the aching,

Or cool one pain,

Or help one fainting robin

Unto his nest again,

I shall not live in vain.

-- Emily Dickinson

Favorite Things

I'm linking up to the favorite things blog.

Here's a few of mine:

It's the only picture I can find, but that bag. It's a roomy slouchy over the shoulder kind of purse that my sister brought back from Ghana and I LOVE it. (the adorable baby in this picture is one of my favorite kiddos too).

This is the shower gel but I use the same scent of grapefruit shampoo from Whole Foods. It smells sooooooooooooooooooooo good.

Definitely my favorite candy.

Another favorite. Reminds me of my mom and sister.

My favorite kind of toothpaste. It just tastes really fresh,

I love postsecret

DER TOM

The inventive spelling stage is my favorite part of writing: when it is finally starting to come together with the coordination to form letters, the ability to hear letter sounds and know the symbol that represents them, etc. I found this envelope and the card on top of the stack of cards I had addressed last night. He did all of the writing by himself. It's so sweet I had to document it.

FROM ISAAC TO TOM (my younger brother)

DEAR TOM, I HOPE YOU HAVE A GOOD HALLOWEEN I love it.

art

A friend posted this on facebook and I LOVED it. Why can't I embrace that attitude more?

Today's Post: Photos that make me happy

Babies make me happy. In particular, my baby. These are some old ones of Isaac that people who only read this blog might not have seen. Or, for those of you who followed me over on the old myspace blog, some flashbacks. Playing around in my make-up....

An old one of Isaac and my brother Tom. I *LOVE* this one... His dad never lets his hair get curly anymore... (and don't I look super young? and frighteningly pale?) First smile caught on film

Tiny baby? Or massive cat? Or BOTH! (Isaac is less than a month in this pic with my parents old cat Danielle)