New York

Can I get an AMEN for a girls weekend? Oh my word was that needed! I'm not sure I even knew how much it was needed until I was there. My mom and two sisters and I headed to NYC for our 1st Annual Girls Trip! The last time we did something like this with just us girls was pre-kids and was when none of us even appreciated it. This time was 4 days of heaven. We shopped, walked, laughed, talked, walked more and enjoyed being with one another. I came home with a heart that was so full it overflowed. I am so thankful for my mom and sisters. I can truly say that all three of them are my best friends. I thank the Lord daily for each of them. When we are together it's just complete. We did decide though that next year we will be going somewhere with sand in our toes and a fruity drink in hand. Our feet were all throbbing and I'm pretty sure we left NYC more tired than we were when we got there! Totally worth it though!

Getting ready for our first day in the city! 

Jackie with the creepy Elmo

TIme Square

Rockefeller Center...So happy to just be together

Mom and I at The Plaza Hotel for drinks! 

Jack and Kel

Limo ride to dinner

Mom and Jack at Carmines

Kel and I at Carmines

After dinner photo opt! 

Yes we are sisters and all have pink workout tops! Ha! 

Mom and I on the Subway headed to Central Park

Central Park

Central Park

World Trade Center Memorial....So moving

Last day! Delicious lunch in Meatpacking District! YUMMY!

The Liebster Blog Award

I am so grateful to my dear old friend Blair for awarding my blog with the Liebster award!


What an honor and a treat! If you have yet to check her blog out than you must not wait another second! Check it out here! Blair and I have known each other for a long time and have walked through a lot of life together. I am so thankful to the internet for keeping us connected all these years later, especially since she lives in South Africa! She has encouraged me since day one about my blog and I'm so grateful to her! 


Without further adue, it's my turn to share who I think is deserving of the Liebster Blog Award.....They are as follows:


1. They Call Me Mrs. Robertson - 


What she says about herself: 


My name is Abbey.

I married a hottie.  It pains me how good he is to me.
We have two little girls, 11 1/2 months apart.

We have a dog named Dallas.  My husband wanted "something to nurture", my vote was for a turtle, obviously I drew the short stick.

My youngest child looks exactly like her daddy and acts like him also.

We laugh a lot in this house.

We do not dance, unless we are forced to do the cuban shuffle at a wedding.

In our home:

We do mistakes.

We do redo's.

We do second chances.

We do grace.

We do the cross. 


What I say about her:
I have known Abbey since we were kids. This chicka is a beautiful person inside and out. She stands firmly in her faith and it comes out clearly in her blog. She is not afraid to say what she is thinking, or admit that things aren't always picture perfect. I find her blog so refreshing. It's the kind of blog you want to sit and read with a cup of coffee in your hand. I love this girl and love her heart! So thankful for her! 


2. Unbashedly Uncorked - 


What she says: 

Hey there- I'm Elizabeth!

And this is my lifestyle blog [straight from a self-proclaimed Southern Belle]. Consider this your daily compilation of my favorite things: wellness, wine and the often photographed [Old English Sheepdog] Windsor. Thanks for stopping by-- y'all come back now you hear! oxo

What I say about her:

Ebeth, as I have always referred to her as, has an amazing gift of writing, cooking, running, fashion, etc. The list goes on for this girl. I read her blog daily. She always keeps me (through her blog) in the know with the most "in fashions". As a stay at home mom you can kind of lose a bit of your fashion some days. But Ebeth is always putting up great ideas. She always keeps you in the know for great bargains and tells you where she gets her fancy duds! She's a big time runner which I am aspiring to be myself. Knowing that after a long hard day at work she still runs encourages me to still try and work exercise in ever when I'm tired! She is a huge encouragement in my life and I'm thankful to know such an awesome women. Not gonna lie I kind of want to be her when I grow up! :)

3. Beautifully Imperfect -

What she says:

I am a wife, a daughter, a sister and a friend. I love fall, organization, food and my husband. Jesus constantly has to remind me to rely on him because I like to think I can do things all by my imperfect self.

What I say about her: 

To know this woman is a gift. She is one of my closest friends and blesses my life to have her in it! She is an amazing writer. In fact I plan to continue to encourage this beauty to write a book. She's that good y'all! Her heart is completely sold out for the Lord. She struggles just like the rest of us and doesn't mind sharing that, but she's committed to the Lord. She loves to garden, has an adorable pup, is an amazing cook and is madly in love with her hubby! Such an encouraging blog and for sure one to read! 

4. That Girl Bunny - 

What she says: 

Hey Ya'll! Welcome to my blog. I'm a 20-something working in the healthcare consulting industry. I love my job, my furry child Mac, and most of all my husband and high-school sweetheart, Mr. B. We are anxiously and excitedly awaiting the arrival of our baby boy in May 2012!

What I say about her:

I am hoping that by giving her this award, she will start blogging more. She's been on a bit of a hiatus and I have truly missed her blogging. I have to cut her some slack since she is 9 months preggers! But she's got a great blog. She shares great food ideas, decorating, exercise and most importantly fashion. I would describe her style as very classic! She is drop dead gorgeous so really it doesn't matter what she wears, but she truly has amazing style! We have also known each other since we were little. It's been wonderful to see how blessed she has been and will continue to be! She's going to be a wonderful mommy! 

5. ModaFresca - 

What she says: 

Welcome to my personal style blog. My hope is that what you see from my closet inspires you to dig through yours to find new life in what you have and how you wear it. Of course what you have on doesn't define who you are, but it can make you feel better and sometimes all we need in order to do better, is to feel better. Friends often tease me by saying that I dress as if every day is a special occasion. To which I reply..."because it is".

What I say about her:

Man oh man do I love THIS girl! Not only is she a close/ like a sister friend, but she's got great style. I love Melissa because she is not afraid of fashion. She's not afraid to not be matchy matchy. She dresses the way SHE wants, not the way someone says too. She also is great about shopping on a budget. Although she'll splurge every now and then, she keeps it real and on a real budget. She is an amazing writer as well, so be sure not to just look at the beautiful pictures, but also read what she writes. Thankful for this sweet friend! 

*Side Note - There may have been 2 or more blogs on here with more than 200 viewers, but they did not have the # of viewers listed. Plus I love all these blogs and wanted to award/share them regardless! :)

So how does the Liebster Blog Award work you ask?

The Rules:

1. Link back to the person who gave it to you.

2. Post the award on your blog for all to see!

3. Give the award to 5 of your favorite bloggers (with 200 followers or less). I chose 6, I just couldn’t decide as they are all so deserving.

4. Leave a comment on your chosen blogs to let them know that they have been given the Liebster Blog award.

Cherished

It's the end of a long day, a Monday at that and all I can think about is cherished time. Time with my boy! Listen, I'll keep it real that most days are hard. Most days I am so ready for Buggy's bed time and I have witnessed enough tantrums than I care for. But today I looked at my job in a different way. I realized that one day I'm gonna miss this. One I'm gonna miss that to James, I am the best person at hide and seek, the funniest person he's ever known, the person that he says "hold me" to, the person he wants to rock him. I'm the person that he freely gives kisses to and loves with an unconditional love. Yup, I'm gonna miss this one day. When he's a stinky teenager and wants nothing to do with me I hope I remember this. This sweet and precious time. Treasuring praying with him every night before bed with him in my arms looking up at my saying "Amen". Sometimes I think I want to rush through life...always ready for the next thing. But it's time to put the breaks on life and enjoy what we have and where we are. Time goes way too fast and I don't want to miss a thing. Thankful for my boy! Thankful for my hubby that works so hard for us and allows me to stay at home with Buggy! Full cup tonight folks!

He is RISEN!

Happy Easter Everyone! Hope you had a wonderful Easter. We sure did. We started our day off at church. Easter is one of my favorite holidays and yesterday did not disappoint. You could just feel the life and energy in our church building! I just wanted to dance feeling so overwhelmingly thankful for what the Lord did for me and for the fact that he is ALIVE! So thankful!
After church we made the drive down to RI to see Manny's family. We spent the day eating lots of yummy food and had an easter egg hunt for the kiddos. Everyone had a great time. The only downside, besides not getting to see my family was that it was a cool and overcast day. :( Bummer for sure. Keeping my fingers crossed that beautiful weather is right around the corner!
Here are some pics from the day! Enjoy!

 Fun goodies in the basket!

 This kid loves some books! 

 If only you knew how obsessed he is with putting sunglasses on! 

 Cool Dude

 This is one of the only pics I got with his actual Easter outfit on! 

 Headed to hunt for eggs! 

 He did so good! 

 Could you not just eat this kid up! 

 All done

Where oh where did my baby go?  

Pinterest successes!

I love sharing the successes I have on Pinterest and lately that has been in the recipe category. I made several Pinterest recipes this past week. All will be repeats in our house. Although I did try one recipe that will not be a repeat. I have never cooked quinoa and it was not a success. It looked like it would be so yummy and I followed the recipe, but it turned out flavorless and yuck. I would like to try cooking with it again. Just maybe a different recipe.

Enough of the ones that went wrong....On to the ones that went so so right! :)

Rosemary Salmon....Find recipe here
















Roasted Broccoli. This one will make it into at least one meal a week. It was AMAZING. If you don't like any spice omit the red pepper flakes. Also go light on the salt, because when you roast it the natural salts come out.  Find recipe here



Roasted green beans w/ Mushrooms. So so tasty. Did this with a meatloaf and homemade mashed potatoes. Delicious! Find recipe here



Here is the recipe I didn't like....Cheese and Vegetable Quinoa Bites. Maybe I did something wrong. But not as yummy as they looked in the picture. Big bummer. You can find the recipe here if you want to give it a try.


I'll be trying some other new ones this week. So stay tuned! 

Visit to Charlotte

Gracious I just noticed that it has been a month since I last posted. Shame on me! :) After the last post we had my mom, Aunt and Cousin in town and then after they left we hopped on a plane to Charlotte for 9 whole days! That at least explains my absence. Plus this past week when we got back to Boston the weather was phenomenal so we spent all day everyday outside!
We had a wonderful time in Charlotte. It was a crazy week trying to see lots of sweet friends that we have missed so much. Thankfully the week didn't feel like it flew by. It was time well spent and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time with my family. It's so fun to see James interact with his Mimi and Pop and his cousins. He adores my mom and dad. My dad would walk in the door from work and James would just follow him around the house. Ha! I'll share a few pics from our fun trip.

Reunited at last! So sweet

Loved playing in Mimi and Pops backyard

Mama and Buggy soaking up the Carolina Sunshine

At the park he just wanted to cuddle with his Mimi

This kid loves a swing! 

At soccer practice with Stella. I think he's ready! 

These two being silly

Got to meet SWEET baby Max! I could eat him! 

So I didn't pack correct clothes and we had to go shirtless while playing! Ha! 

My best friend and my Mom! Yes she had a two week old at this point. JEALOUS of how beautiful she is! 

James and Hunt in the swing

Just Chillin

James and his buddy Wyatt! They are both ready to play soccer!