A Spa-licious Birthday:o)

I surprised Deanna with a day at Sweet and Sassy (a local spa that is just for little girls her age).

Happy 8th Birthday to my baby sister Deanna:o)
She got the Princess for a Day package which included: mini-mani, mini-pedi, party up-do, makeup, toe ring and ring for her finger. After one hour of pampering...she became more of a diva than a princess, striking poses and smiling for the camera:o)

Here are come pics from her special day:

'Twas the Week of a Very Crazy Christmas!

I love my family. I love Christmas. But the two put together can sometimes be lethal.

I come from a very large family from both of my parents. Most of my family members live in PA which enables us to be very tight knit. However, after the holidays are over, everyone disperses to recooperate from what just happened over the past week leading up to Christmas.

I worked double shifts everyday from Saturday up until Christmas Eve. This means I stood on my feet for 12 hours working each day when all I could think about was how badly I needed to get my Christmas shopping...gulp...started...and finished. Yet somehow I managed, Wednesday night after my final shift, with one hour to spare until Christmas. Note: I will NEVER do that again. Next year, I'm starting in June.

Christmas Eve was wonderful, very traditional. I spent the evening with my dads side of the fam at my Mom-Moms house in the country. We had a delicious holiday dinner then we went to a candlelight mass at her church (yes, the one I love that I'm getting married in). It was beautiful, simple but elegant, as most things in the country are for the most part. We came home to open presents and have dessert. Dad gave me a Kindle which was such an amazing surprise. He knows me very well and his face lit up when I opened it. All of my presents from my family were wonderful, every year they do so much and it never goes unnoticed.

Christmas Day I woke up to my sisters enthusiastic cheering to tell us Santa had visited our house. This may be the last year that she believes, maybe not, but it's an incredible feeling to see the look of happiness on a childs face at Christmas. My mom gave me not one, not two but three new handbags (she really knows me too, lol) and I was ecstatic to get my new Uggs from my grandparents. Now I no longer have to wear the ones with the hole in them! haha

Saturday I mustered up the courage to brave the crowds and take on the challenge of the King of Prussia for the After Christmas sales. It was terrible trying to get there but once I got there I was in a good mood. I got a bunch of neat things and the lines really weren't that bad thanks to the stores having multiple registers open. Yes, I was THAT girl who read my Kindle while waiting in line. I'm a nerd:o) but hey it helped pass the time! That night I went to see Sherlock Holmes and I received the best gift a girl could ask for...the little blue Tiffany box:o) inside was the hugs and kisses "xoxo" ring that I've always wanted and I now wear everyday. It's very special<3

Sunday Dad and I tried to go see the Diana exhibit in Philly, she has been an idol of mine since I was a little girl. After standing in line for 30 min we found out they were completely sold out for the entire day. We headed home, disappointed of course, but Dad never gives up. Not for me. He went online and ordered tickets, we will be going on Wednesday for another father-daughter date night:o)

Today I was back to work for yet another double and made plans for New Years. It will be small and simple but absolutely special and absolutely perfect:o)

Tomorrow my baby sister turns 8 years old. Amazing. I feel like it was just last week that I was next to my mom watching her being brought into this world. I am taking her to Sweet and Sassy where we will be doing a girly girl mini spa day together:o) She was in bed early tonight dreaming of pink sparkly fingers and toes:o) pictures will surely follow when I tell you all about it tomorrow. Goodnight all, xo


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Merry Christmas*)

Wishing you all a very merry Christmas!!! I hope your holiday is wonderful and filled with lots of love! I will be blogging again soon, for now I'm spending time with my family and all of my loved ones, xo

Final Friday!

I am happy to announce that I am DONE with all of my finals as a senior in college!!! Woop woop!



Happy Friday! Enjoy your weekend! LET IT SNOW:o)

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Thankful Thursday

I am thankful for Christmas being exactly one week away!

"It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, everywhere you go..."

Christmas is EVERYWHERE and everyone is in their cheerful holiday spirits:o) Christmas cookies are made, gifts are wrapped and family is flying in. For that...

I am thankful for my big giant family. We make a big deal out of all of the holidays. I spend my Christmas Eve with my Dad and his side of the family at Mom-Mom's house in the country. Christmas Day is spent with my Mom and her side of the family opening up presents with my siblings and dancing to Christmas music:o) I have relatives flying in from all over the U.S and I'm so grateful that everyone is able to do so and spend time together.

I am thankful for Dad renewing our season tickets for the Sixers every year. He was devastated when I was 6 and told him that I wanted to be a cheerleader. He was happy to have a daughter but he was really pushing for me to be a tomboy. Because I ended up being the biggest girly-girl, he constantly taught me all there is to know about sports, which today I couldn't appreciate more! I LOVE sports and I love that we have tickets for the Sixers, Flyers, Eagles and Phillies. This gives us plenty of chances to have father-daughter dates:o) Last night we went to see the Sixers play the Cavaliers, I couldn't sleep for nights leading up to the game knowing I was going to see Lebron James play the entire game right in front of me (we have courtside seats). He is an incredible athlete, who I think to be the next Michael Jordan...let me rephrase that, NO ONE will be as good as Michael Jordan but Lebron (aka King James) is as close as it will ever get in my lifetime. Here are some pics from the game:

(Dad and I before the game at his restaurant)

(A.I making his return home, showing some Philly love)

(The King aka Lebron James)

(My obsession, Andre Iguodala, xoxo)

I am thankful for my subscription to InStyle magazine. It's my latest addiction and I'm so glad I get the latest issue before it hits the newsstands that way I can catch up on all the latest trends while soaking in a bubble bath:o)

I am thankful for my iPod touch. My Blackberry (aka my lifeline) finally "died" last week and I've been without a phone since then (ps, I will be getting a new phone tomorrow and I switched to Verizon so please email me your phone numbers!). My iPod touch allowed me to text (with wi-fi access), email, Facebook, blog, Skype, tweet from Twitter, etc. while I made the decision to get a new smartphone. If you don't own an iPod touch or an iPhone, you need one! They are incredible!!

I am thankful for all of my favorite stores being online which allowed me to get almost all of my Christmas shopping done without the hassle of standing in lines and still being able to work my tush off at work:o)

I am thankful for movie nights with my brother, Brendan. We both make it a point to watch a movie together several times a week and catch up on what's going on in our busy lives. Now that he's 16, he can watch some of my favorite movies and appreciate the humor in them:o) I am so thankful that he enjoys our movie nights as well, there's nothing better than hearing him say to a girl or guy on the phone, "ok I'll talk to you soon, its movie night with my sis". THAT is why I love him so much.

I am thankful that my very last final as a college student is tomorrow!!! I will no longer be taking finals or writing papers (until grad school). This also means that...I will (fingers crossed that I get accepted into the program) be student teaching in the spring!!! As soon as I know of my acceptance and assignment, you all will be the first to know:o)

I am thankful for everyone reading and responding to my blog. I'm still trying to get a lot of you into blogging, but thank you for bookmarking my page and emailing me anyway:o) Whether you are my family or my friend, I love keeping in touch with you, xo

Pay It Forward

For those of you who aren't familiar with the movie, "Pay It Forward", I will fill you in on what you are missing.

Its the story of a young boy, Trevor, who gets a class assignment from his high school history teacher. The assignment is to "change the world and put it into action".

Pretty amazing. Especially for high school students to actually go about and do this. If you haven't seen the movie yet, please do so. It's an incredible story and everytime I watch it, I cry. I wish more people had a small spot in their hearts to do better for the world instead of just themselves. So many need materialistic and monetary items to make them happy.

When I was in Philadelphia a few weekends ago, my heart sank. Walking through Suburban Station and crossing over to get to the Broad Street subway line, I noticed the people who were laying on top of cardboard boxes using newspapers to keep them warm. At the time I was complaining about how my Uggs were soaked because we had been walking through a wet mix of rain and snow all day and my feet were no longer warm. When I came upon these unfortunate people, I shut my mouth...very quickly. This happens every single time I go into the city and I keep thinking of ways that I can help these people, within reasonable means.

I watched the movie a few days after, trying to get inspired with someway that I could make a difference. I came up with the following idea:

Next week, I will be giving out 10 Snuggies with a bag of freshly baked Christmas cookies to 10 of those less fortunate people in Suburban Station.

I'm hoping this warms their hearts up, even if it's just a little bit. No one deserves to be that cold, especially around the holidays when you could have a nice colorful Snuggie to keep you warm. So, if you happen to be down in Philadelphia within the next few weeks, and you see a homeless man or woman walking around with a bright red Snuggie on, wish them a Merry Christmas:o)

Pay it Forward...bring them something to eat and trust me, your heart will be just as warm, xoxo

"Not-Me!" Monday

I am not absolutely ecstatic that Christmas is next Friday:o)

I did not start my Christmas shopping last night at Target. I was not thrilled to find out that they close at 11 on Sundays leading up to Christmas so that people like me can get their acts together and finally get their lists checked off, haha! I also did not miss the first half of the Eagles/Giants game because we all know I just would not do that in order to shop...oops! Hey, the Eagles won and I was not rubbing it in Rob's face (yessss!) due to the fact that he has bad taste and likes the Giants:o(

This weekend I did not have the chance to "kid sit" my favorite kids in the entire world...my boys from camp and their family friends: Garrett and Brett, Ally, Emma and John.

I did not have a blast with them, we don't ever have fun together!

I did not do arts and crafts with the girls, we did not make santa faces:o)

(mine)

(emma's)

(ally's)

I did not have a FABULOUS lunch at P.F Changs today, nope I am not addicted to their food...nope, not me!

I did not get a wonderful surprise from my dear friend Jeff who wished me good luck for my finals week with a beautiful bouquet of flowers:o)

I did not start my day by waking up and realizing that its crunch time...time to buckle down and start hibernating for the week to study for finals. Dad doesn't ever make my day with his wonderful texts that make me feel like the luckiest daughter in the whole world! Dad: "whomever is lucky enough to date you will be very lucky to have you as a girlfriend. you are wonderful. your smile is contagious," so for that, today's shout-out goes to my Dad.

My very best friend and the best father a girl could ask for, i love you. xo

I do not have to start studying for finals, I do not wish that I could be curled up watching a movie right now and finishing the last few Christmas cards that I have to send out. So for now...I hope you're all having a great Monday and doing exactly what you love to do:o)

Silent Saturdays

I hope you're all enjoying your Saturday with your loved ones!!


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'Tis the Season to Be...

I'm sure most of you are anxiously awaiting Christmas, just as I am, and frantically trying to get all of your lists accomplished. I am so very impressed by all of your blogs, emails and Facebook statuses updating me on the many, many happenings in your life. I can't believe everyone is almost done all their holiday shopping, for that I am very jealous!

To me, 'tis the season to be...

1) O.R.G.A.N.I.Z.E.D: I am a compulsive list maker. I make them for EVERYTHING, however, I have definitely fell behind on everything that I should be doing, mostly because of finals week being next week. I have so many things that I still need to get done by Monday before my final exams even start that the thought of all this is starting to make my hands shake as I write this (yikes!). The lists will start next week and surely, I will get around to STARTING my Christmas shopping. I have about 20-25 people to shop for so it is absolutely important that I stay organized!!

2) "Domestic": and there is absolutely a reason for that word being in quotes, lol. Wednesday night I paid a visit to my friends Jenna and Vince at their beautiful house to make Christmas cookies for the holidays. Jenna and I were fully convinced we knew what we were doing while making these delicious creations, until we made our sugar cookie dough and started wondering why we were using almost an entire bag of flour and the dough STILL wasn't working out.



Thank heavens for my wonderful Mom-Mom being the cooking queen! After one simple phone call to her, explaining that we needed to chill the dough for 30 minutes before using it, we were on our way to making those dozens and dozens of cookies!

At the end of it, after many laughs and icing all over our...(ok, JENNA'S) clothes lol, we decorated like busy bees and ended up having a blast. Here are pics of our masterpieces:

(My cookies)

(Jenna's cookies)

3) Thankful: starting with Thanksgiving and ending with the new year, its really important to show the special people in your lives how truly thankful you really are. Tomorrow I will be accomplishing a huge task...Christmas cards. This is my little way of showing all those I couldn't live without that I am grateful for having them in my life.

4) JoLLy:o) lets be honest. You really can't be in a bad mood when you're watching Christmas Vacation or listening to Mariah Carey sing "All I Want for Christmas is You". It's next to impossible. I can't drive by Longwood Gardens everytime I go to Mom-Mom's house without my eyes being fixated on those beautiful twinkle lights making all the trees look like Candy Land. If Christmas doesn't make you happy then Bah Humbug! You probably just aren't allowing the Christmas spirit to warm your heart up a little bit. I can't get enough of it, even when I'm at work I'm humming Christmas songs.

Christmas is in two weeks, so enjoy it while it lasts!

Wishful Wednesday*)

Today I wish for snow. We have been getting lots and lots of rain lately and quite honestly, its December. I would really LOVE some S.N.O.W:o)

That Wonderful Smile on a Childs Face:o)

There truly is nothing better than a smile on a childs face or their eyes lighting up with excitement. There is nothing more rewarding knowing that they are smiling because of you:o)

Because of this, I am sitting here today, planning more lessons and I can't help thinking of the kids that I taught at Paradise Farm Camps years ago. You cannot imagine the feeling that these kids give you because they trust you, look up to you, admire what you do. I'll leave you with some pictures of these adorable, crazy kids that have forever changed my life. I'm even more grateful that some of them have even managed to stay in touch now that they're...(gulp)...teenagers!!!



Me and my group, Meg, 2nd in from left still invites me to her school chorus concerts:o)




A reward for being very well behaved the entire week of camp...put slime all all Miss Angela, they loved it




My very first time fishing, my boys caught a fish with me!!!




My best buddy, Douglas, and my co counselor, Joe





My group outside our cabin





The girls in art class



Sammy and his adorable face




The camp counselors:o)




Teamwork<3

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"Not-Me" Monday

I did not have an awesome weekend, I did not have a TON o' fun!!!

I did not have a fabulous lunch with one of my bests, Jenna. We never talk forever about all the things going on in our crazy lives and yet laugh until our cheeks hurt (nope, not us!), lol!

Saturday I did not travel into one of my favorite places on Earth...Philadelphia.

Everytime I go down to the city, I have an even better time than the last! This is pretty impressive considering how much I'm down there!

I did not get really excited to see that we got the first snow of the season!!!!!!

My friend Jeff won tickets for the Flyers game so we did not decide to spend the day, walking around and having a blast. We did not go to the Comcast Center to see the incredible 3D movie that they show, spreading across the entire wall of the main lobby. I did not fall in love with the giant sparkly presents that they had for everyone to admire:o)

Next was the Wanamaker/Macy's Building for the spectacular light show above the giant Christmas tree! This was really pretty! The Dickens Village was neat too, it was life sized to walk through and told the story of Christmas past and Christmas present.

We hopped on the subway and hopped off at Pattison to go see the FLYERS!! Unfortunately they lost but the game was really fun to watch! We sat right by the Dancing Guy:o)
On Sunday I did not go to P.F Changs for the very first time. I did not walk out of the restaurant with a giant smile on my face. I did not become completely...hooked! I did not LOVE my fortune:o)

Tonight I did not have a date night with Dad, which do not make me the happiest girl in the world. It's true, I'm a daddy's girl. I am like my Dad in SO many ways. He did not take me to one of my favorite restaurants, Olive Garden. I did not have a glass of the best red wine ever, Columbia Crest Merlot. Call me cheesey but I love drinking red wine with pasta:o) Yummmmm-o! This was not a result of us taking a field trip to Total Wine, my dad's version of a toy store! He did not walk out with 9 bottles of wine and a $170 bill!

Tonight it did not finally occur to me that next week is my last finals week...ever! I did not get really stressed out when I realized how much work I still need to finish, whew! Happy Monday everyone!

Twenty Years From Now...

*picture from flickr*

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails.

Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-Mark Twain

Thankful Thursday

Today I am thankful for that little peak of sunshine that came out for only about a half hour, it was the perfect way to brighten up such a blah gray day:o)

I am thankful for being a female family member in this large family of mine. This simply means that at certain (and very special) times, various heirlooms are passed down for others to keep safe and use with love. Today we received a large box and inside was a collection of brass, vintage vanity items that great-grandmother kept on her dresser. There were also several necklaces of large chunky beads (who knew they would be back in style!) that still smell like her strong, distinct perfume. I was handed down a silk handkerchief that is handpainted with pretty, colorful flowers. One day this will be part of my something old, something new:o)

I am thankful for the wonderful phone call I got from my friend Steph telling me that she and her husband, Jason, are moving back home to PA! I'm sure she is just as thankful that she has a wonderful husband who understands how much she misses her family and friends. I have the best friends a girl could ever ask for. They are always there when I need them, even if its for a lunch date (which I am doing with Jenna on Saturday).

I am thankful for my Nike Training app on my iPod touch. It allows me to workout at my own pace but throws in challenges that keep me moving and whipping my tushy into shape:o)

I am thankful for those fuzzy, cozy, soft aloe socks that I got from Bath and Body Works. They keep my feet warm in my winter boots but also keep my feet soft too with the little bit of aloe that's in them! Try them, they're amazing (a great Christmas idea too!-the aloe stays in them for up to 15 washes).

I am thankful for the new key finder I just bought at Target. I can NEVER find my keys and I usually wait until I am running out the door to try and find them. Now I have this nifty little contraption that, with the press of a button, will find them for me (even if they are in the bottom of a drawer like they were this morning, oops!)

I am very thankful that tomorrow is Friday and I have a very busy but what promises to be a very fun weekend planned:o)

Wishful Wednesday*)

On this rainy, dreary Wednesday night I am wishing that it was snow falling instead of rain. It's December 2nd and we haven't had a single snowflake yet. I am curled up on my couch, with a big mug of hot mint green tea, a fire lit in my fireplace, my twinkle Christmas lights are glowing, and the Holiday (one of my absolute favorite movies) is playing on my tv. Lesson plans are on hold for tonight:o) Happy Wednesday everyone!