NYC! Trip Recap Part 1

Guys- I'm in love with a city. NYC is probably one of the most colorful, exciting, fascinating places I've ever been. Last time I was in the city was after winning singing contest. I didn't get the chance to explore much, because I was so busy prepping to perform in front of some big time casting directors. Although it was a fabulous experience, I'm so glad I finally got the chance to see the city.

First things first- If you go to the city, buy one of the New York Passes. I cannot say enough good about this. It easily paid for itself after the first day, and it got us into EVERYTHING. Another tip: Buy a week long subway pass. You get unlimited rides for a little over $30. For a girl not from the city, this seemed a little steep at first, but it was well worth it.

We started our day off with a trip the the Empire State Building! We enjoyed the Skyride (all of this was covered by our pass!) and after started to take the extraordinarily fast elevators to the tip top of the building. Here's a little tidbit for you- My husband is absolutely terrified of heights. I tried to make him hold my hand when a worker, fondly known as Renita, shooed away my hand thinking I was part of the high school group. "Leave Joe ALONE!" She exclaimed. She then proceeded to whisk my husband away with a hand around his waste and another holding his hand tightly. The cougar. ;) She ushered him through the crowds and gave him a personal tour of the building. It was hilarious! Naturally, I stalked them the whole time snapping pictures. The view was breathtaking. It was a great start to our trip because it allowed us to see how the city was laid out.

After stealing my husband back from the warm embrace of Renita, we left the ESB to use our passes for a bike rental. We biked around that city like you wouldn't believe. It was terrifying. At one point, I was far behind the group. I was in the middle of an extremely busy intersection when I realized I was peddling and going no where. My. Chain. Fell. Off. Awesome. Finally, my husband came back for me and realized what happened and laughed like crazy. The bikes definitely were a great way to explore. We saw so many different places!

We ended our day at Times Square. I asked a police officer: "Where's Times Square?" He gave me the funniest look and said "...You're right in the middle of it." HA! We took lots of pictures, then walked around Manhattan for the night. It was a great start to the exciting trip.

Up tomorrow, I will talk all about my first celebrity encounter! You won't want to miss it! :)

Weekend Madness & That Time I Went Viral on the Internet

Hi friends! Let's play catch up. I'm in the midst of packing for a big trip to NYC. Can you believe it? I will be touring, watching a Broadway production, and living it up as a chaperone for my husband's student's senior trip. Needless to say, just getting ready for taking a week off of my own job has been taking up a crazy amount of time. Any other bloggers in the big apple?

Where do I even START with last weekend? It was packed start to finish with so many fun things. After I got off work on Friday, I headed to my Mom's house to spend some time with her. We had a great time chatting and spending some time together. Saturday I was up bright and early for a THREE hour ballet practice! I am part of an alumni performance for my old studios 50th anniversary. I can't even tell you how thrilling it was to see my dance family again. I love them all so much! I have been so sore that I've hardly been able to walk! I definitely miss the exercise and how in shape that class got me.  On Saturday night my fabulous Aunt Julie took me to a concert! SO MUCH FUN. I love how alive concerts make you feel. I love being surrounded by music. Sunday was spent at my Aunt's lake-house on their new pontoon. Yes, please. I think I will just repeat that weekend a million times in my head.

My hubby turned 25 last weekend! We celebrated it last week in a combined birthday party for my sweet little sister and him. I am so thankful for the two of them. The party turned out super cute... a little too much pink for my hubby, but I think he's learned to deal with my pink obsession. It works.

Fast forward a few days, and we have yet another jam-packed weekend. In 48 hours I had another three hour ballet practice, went to a wedding, went to a party/bon fire, went to church, and celebrated mothers day. We are even going out tonight to celebrate more! I've been having more fun than I can even begin to say.

Picture from 2 years ago at the studio... I need to take some new ones! :) 

On another note, I finally achieved fame... sort of. One of my husband's students let him know that a bunch of her friend's from other schools were sharing one of those cheesy picture quotes, and when she took a closer look she realized it was her teacher! Someone stole one of our engagement pictures (apparently over a year ago on a few sites!) and slapped on a quote. Well, it went crazy viral and now we are seeing it everywhere! When I put it on Facebook, we had a few others mention that they had seen it floating around as well and thought it looked like us. Joe's first reaction? "And just like Mike Wazowski's moment of fame, my face is covered by the text." I die. So funny!

Happy Mother's Day to the most beautiful, selfless, giving woman I know. I'm so thankful for my Momma! She is everything I aspire to be and more. I cannot even begin to express how much I love this woman! Isn't she stunning? 

Have a great start to the week! 

xoxo

What I'm Loving Wednesday!

I'm loving Vera Bradley's baby line. Hello, cuteness! Seriously hoping I have a girl someday!

The Kate Spade gold dot cases are fabulous. Such an adorable way to flaunt that fancy phone! I still can't get over this gold dot obsession. I hope it's here to stay.

These shabby chic Toms are just WAY too cute. Unfortunately they sold out before I could get my hands on a pair.

Monogrammed floppy hats? Um, yes. Send one my way, please!

If you see anything you like, the links are here. Enjoy! :)

Happy Wednesday, all! Hope you all have a fantastic, productive rest of the week. I love that we finally hit the halfway point!

xoxo

She's Feelin' 21

My amazing, kindhearted, hilarious, beautiful little sister turned 21 today! TWENTY ONE. How on earth does that even happen? She's supposed to still be my little baby sister. In honor of this amazing day, I'm writing 21 things I love/just need to brag about Lindsey. Be sure to leave her some birthday love at the end! :)

1. She's always generous. When my laptop got stolen she immediately ran downstairs to grab hers to let me use. She didn't spend a second thinking about herself. She always manages to buy me little presents and surprises. She is always thinking of others!

2. She can forgive quicker than anyone I know. She always teaches me to forgive others that have wronged us. She has a really hard time holding a grudge.

3. She always sees the good in people. Lindsey is constantly building people up. She always knows how to spin the circumstance to see the other person's side, and always helps me to see past others' flaws.

4. She has the best sense of humor! Linds can ALWAYS make me laugh. She's witty, sarcastic, and can quote old movies with the best of them.

5. She is organized. I love this about her. Seriously. My little sister is definitely blessed in the ways of organization (she gets that from our Momma!).

6. She has a heart for Jesus. She loves Jesus with her whole heart. I love watching her strive to serve him and to grow closer to him.

7. She is incredibly smart. I'm talking currently has a 4.0 smart. It's kind of ridiculous, really.

8. She has a gorgeous sense of style. She always looks so pulled together and pretty. She is one of those people who is 100% pure gorgeousness and doesn't even realize it.

9. She doesn't waste her time dating around. She doesn't date just to date. If she doesn't like a guy with her whole heart, she doesn't lead them on. She has such an honest heart.

10. She knows when to put me in my place. The kid isn't afraid to stand up to me. She isn't ever going to hold back when she knows I need to hear something. I'm thankful for that.

11. She's the little sister, but somehow ended up being my role model. How did she manage to spin that? I look up to her in so many things!

12. She loves Disney just as much as I do.

13. She would always let me be the princess... or maybe I just made her let me? When we were little we'd always make believe. Somehow I always talked her into letting me be Ariel and she got to be flounder. Poor kid.

14. She lets me steal her clothes.

15. She is my best friend. They always say a sister is your first best friend, and that's definitely true for us.

16. She loves serving others. She works at a camp, so definitely gets to use this talent a lot.

17. She goes where God leads her to go. In fact, that kiddo is moving back to camp tomorrow. I have a hard time with her being so far away. It's hard not to be able to see her as often. I'm thankful that she doesn't strive to make me happy, though. She is always following whatever path God lays out for her.

18. She has an incredible singing voice. It literally stops me in my tracks every time I hear her sing. That kid is so talented!

19. She knows when to listen and when to give advice. It's hard to find people that will listen so willingly!

20. She always reminds me to update my blog. If I get behind, I can assure you a text or phone call will be coming my way from my little sister. Ha!

21. She's just plain lovable. She takes a little time to get to know, but she is so, so worth it. I honestly feel for those who haven't been able to get to know her, because she is such a blessing in my life. 



I love you, Lindsey! Thank you for being you. God gave me the ultimate gift when he gave me you as a little sister!

A Little Throwback

Here's a little bit of old school for ya,That goes a little something like this...

 I've always tried to be the flyest kid on the block... 

The popular one with the rising stock

So that's when I had this bright ideaThrow the party of the monthNo, the party of the year

... I'm just going to quit quoting Aaron Carter while I'm ahead. But really. What's a real throwback Thursday without that? It doesn't exist, I tell you. Does. Not. Exist. 

I hope you all have a fabulous Thursday. Or as Aaron would say "Beep Beep! Have a good time!" 

Oh, Aaron. 

WILW

Here's a few of the things I'm loving this Wednesday!

This adorable clutch- gold glitter and chevron? Perfection.
These awesome leopard print Sperrys.
Coffee Koozies!
Anchor shorts- I mean... my blog name has anchors in it. Clearly I need these.
The awesome striped clutch. That pink bow is just darling!
The quatrefoil navy button down from Target. How cute would this be for layering?
Monogrammed bows from Shop Crystal Faye. She makes the cutest bows!


Happy Wednesday! 

The Spring Wish List

Hello, Spring! (Hello, Anna!) Spring is oh, so beautiful. I've been out running (who am I kidding... maybe a fast walk at best) with my husband and taking in this beautiful sunshine. Spring makes me want pretty things (uh oh, wallet.)  So, that's why I've decided to ramble on and on about some of the pretty things I'm dying to get my freshly painted fingernails on. Here we gooooo!

1. iPad. Duh. Everyone seems to have one and I'm just sitting here like oh, hey... don't mind me typing on my old fashioned computer device. Don't mind me at all. But, in all seriousness, I'm totally waiting until the next model. Mostly because apple stuff gets replaced with a new model every other week and I want to stay on top of things.

2. Tory Burch shoes. Let's just get one thing straight. I'm pretty sure the most I've ever spent on shoes was $50... and that was for my wedding shoes. Apparently I need to step up my game. Those Tory Burch flats are just way too cute. I'm hoping that I will stumble upon a pair at Nordstrom Rack one of these days.

3. Michael Kors bag. I am in dire need of a structured bag. And by dire, I mean I WANT ONE. They are adorable! My goal is to buy a nice purse sometime this year. I've only owned Target purses in the past, and let's be honest... they don't hold up very long. I want an investment piece.

4. A hot pink cruiser bike! My bike broke. Literally. The handle bars pretty much are falling off. It's unfortunate (not really that unfortunate because I've had that same bike since I was 10 and really was praying for it to fall apart so I could get a pretty big girl one.)

5. Mint Candy Apple by Essie. This shade is just adorable. I love this color for spring!

6. Raspberry Kitchenaid. Let's just be honest here... this thing belongs in my life. I'm hoping after stalking my blog, my (super handsome, generous, kind, loving, good looking... are you getting this, honey?) husband will get the hint and buy it for me. It would look awesome in my kitchen!

What are you wishing for this spring?