Monday, July 30, 2012

What Would You Do?

This morning on his way to work Joe purchased a round-trip ticket from the ticket machine at the train station. To his surprise the machine dispensed three round-trip tickets. After checking the account we realized that he did in fact get the additional two tickets free of charge. Joe then called me and asked what to do. Me being obsessed with karma I told him to let someone know what had happened. Joe told the conductor and her response was shock, then she giggled a little, told Joe to go ahead and use the tickets. Then she thanked him for telling her. I guess it’s our lucky day - Two karma free round-trip tickets to the city!
Happy Monday!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Rain...Rain...RAIN!

Living in New York has been absolutely amazing but the weather has taken some getting used to. Surprisingly I am not talking about the humidity... I am talking about the rain. It rains here about once a week at least but it does not last long and its actually kind of nice because it keeps everything green. 

Last weekend we got caught in the biggest storm yet which lasted an entire two hours. (That is a long time for a storm to last in New York) We were driving home from the mall when it start to rain (and I mean RAIN) out of nowhere. We had to pull off the parkway because it was actually to hard to see and continue to drive 50+. Streets in small towns around where we live tend to flood sometimes because the amount of rain that falls in such a short period of time. As we pulled off the parkway I saw that one of the streets was partially flooded and me being me told Joe to go faster. (Puddles are fun in my truck) As we got closer to the puddle I realized that it was not just a puddle and that the cars that were parked on the side of the road had water up to the center of their bumper... O well. We plowed through the water which splashed well over the height of the truck. There were two police officers waiting to close off the flooded street that really got a kick out of us. We really turned some heads that day!

Here is just a clip of the rain... I didn't think to video tape the puddle until it was too late. :(

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Living in a Small Town

The other evening Joe and I were getting ready to meet some friends for dinner when we heard a bunch of noise outside. We got up to look out the window and immediately starting laughing. This was what we saw...



I guess this is a normal thing here on any given Friday. Has anyone ever had a full parade come down their residential street?

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

Change of Style

As most of you know I started my new job last week. I can not explain how hard the adjustment was to go from working 0 hours a week to working 72 hours a week. On the other hand it feels amazing to be working again and be back into a routine. Being unemployed for those few months were nice but I crave the routine of having a job.

The dress code at my last job was very relaxed. (t-shirts and sneakers) Coming into the interview I learned that this job required a business casual wardrobe. (This I no longer have) I was able to purchase a few things that my 72 hour a week paycheck allowed. Here are a couple of outfits from my first week of work:



I am very fortunate that business casual in this office includes dark colored jeans. (I had no idea this would be allowed) This allowed me to shop throughout the week and not pick up the first business slacks I found. Adding to my current wardrobe was of course enjoyable for me. (I never say no to shopping) I have also entered the fabulous world of ballet flats. (Which I used to hate... for no reason)


Are you as addicted to clothes and shoes as I am? For the past year and a half or so, I have not had the pleasure of really shopping for myself. Between savings for a house and then having that turn into saving for the move Joe and I were really wearing the heck out of the clothes we had. Even though I just purchased work clothes its nice to have a few new items to wear and mix into my current wardrobe.

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Recipe Edition: Cappuccino Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies

I mentioned in a past post that I am determined to use my cookbooks and try out new recipes. I am not sure this counts because I was not so much cooking but baking. I wanted to share anyway just to show progress in my goal to use my cookbooks. :) I purchased Wilton Cookie Exchange book last Christmas against my Mothers and Husbands wishes. Last Christmas season was the time that I was really getting into baking so I "knew" I would use this cookbook. Sadly I just used this cookbook for the first time... but hey I'm getting there. So here it is the first recipe I used from this book "Cappuccino Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies."





Interestingly enough this recipe did not make as many cookies as past batches... which leads me to believe that they are even worse for you because I used the same amount of butter. The cookies taste very similar to just a plain chocolate chip cookie but there is a little something extra that make them delicious. Now I just need to find someone to eat them... ;)

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Crafty Edition: Our Story Scrapbook

As if I didn't have enough scrapbooks to finish I decided to add yet another to the list. This one I actually finished within a week! The scrapbook below is the scrapbook of Joe and I before marriage, enjoy:











































































Thursday, July 12, 2012

Review Edition: Summer Sisters by: Judy Blume


Love Love Love!
Okay, so maybe I am playing favorites because Judy Blume is my favorite author but I really did enjoy this book from cover to cover. The story has a ton of twists and turns, some of which are expected and others that are completely out of left field. What I love about this book is that the story is set over such a large period of time. Nothing is worse than really getting into a character and the storyline doesn't finish out their life. Overall I rate this book:

☻☻☻
5 out of 5 smiles - A must read

Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Another Obsession

Everyone that knows me well knows that I am obsessed with two things: OPI Nail Polish & Cookbooks. Soon after I began to bake and really enjoy it I wanted to take on cooking. Not only was I going to venture out and make things I have no idea how to make, I wanted to be a good cook with a ton of favorite (easy for me) recipes at hand. This is where the obsession began, I started small and registered for a few key newlywed cookbooks that were full of tricks and tips for beginners. To my surprise we received a handful of cookbooks from my Aunt and Uncle including some we did not register for, which are now some of my favorites. I have quite the collection of cookbooks and sadly have not made many recipes from them... yet. I have recently found a recipe blog that I love so I have been neglecting my cookbooks. I am determined now to show my cookbooks some love. One of my favorite cookbook is one that I received for Christmas from my Aunt.
Martha Stewart is kind of a pet peeve of mine but sometimes she hits the nail on the head. A fun detail this book has is that it divides all the recipes into four different seasons.
From this book we have made sloppy joe's and baked ravioli both of which were amazing. I can't lie we don't always cook recipes from the current season.

What are some of your favorite cookbooks?

I now have a collection of a whooping 22 cookbooks. My mother and Joe both agree that I am not allowed to purchase another cookbook until I have made every single recipe from all the cookbooks I have... I better get cooking!

Sunday, July 8, 2012

4th of July

This 4th of July we didn't have much planned so we decided to get together with some of our friends for a BBQ. As we were prepping the food the lighting storm started. This was not just any ordinary lighting storm it was by far the biggest lighting storm I have ever seen. Being from the west coast Joe and I are not used to storms like these. While BBQing outside we had quite a show. There was no rain and not much thunder while being about 95 degrees outside. 
This Storm continued for about two hours. No need for fireworks this year!
I hope everyone had an amazing 4th of July!!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Save The Boobies

This past weekend Joe and I attended a fundraiser hosted by one of Joe's brothers. After signing up for the 3-Day Walk in San Francisco and not being able to participate because of the move it was nice to give back. It was a long night that both of us really enjoyed.

Sunday, July 1, 2012

The End of Photo-A-Day

I hope you enjoyed an entire month of my pictures... and if thats not your thing I bet your glad it's over! ;) I have to be honest it was fun at first but it quickly became something I was not excited about doing. I don't think I will be participating in another Photo-A-Day Challenge but you never know.