GoodReads.com

Thank to my friend Sensibly Sassy I am addicted to goodreads.com!

I might be behind the times but goodreads.com is new to me. It is a website where you can rate books you've read, keep track of books you want to read, and let your friends know what you are currently reading. By far the best part of the website is that it recommends books that they think you might want to read based on the books you have read in the past. I also love the fact that you can find your friends and family and compare books or see what they liked or disliked about a book you are thinking of reading. I really enjoy getting book ideas from friends. (In result I have stolen probably 75% of my firends "read" books) All in all it is 100% addicting and I don't think I'll be getting anything done anytime soon... I'll be reading ;)

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Review Edition: The Acciental Bestseller by: Wendy Wax

This book started out a tad slow and at first I didn't think I was going to like it. After a little while I was hooked. It gives insider knowledge about the publishing world and it's pros and cons. If you are a book lover as I am, you will enjoy learning about how a book is thought up, put on paper, published, and marketed. There is a huge twist towards the end of the book that really peeked my interest. I would totally recommend this book.

☻☻☻☻☺

4 out of 5 smiles – An enjoyable read

Our 1st Wedding Anniversary

Last Sunday Joe and I went to the city just the two of us to celebrate our one year anniversary. It's been a long year that has felt like a month which included some big changes. It was nice to take a evening to ourselves to reflect on this past year.

 

We had dinner at Fishtail by David Burke which we scored a living social deal for. We were able to enjoy a sushi plate to share, two appetizers, two entrees, and two desserts for a very reasonable price. Most of the dinner looked too good that we couldn't wait to dig in but here are a few pictures of our amazing meal.

Joe chose to have a Manhattan. (Fitting)

I chose to have a drink called "Habitual Happiness." (Very Fitting)

The hibiscus flower in the drink was a nice touch.

For my appetizer I had the calamari salad which was so good!

This was the chocolate mouse dessert that Joe and I both picked! It was so yummy!

We didn't get many pictures during dinner but we were too busy enjoying the food and our company. I did manage to get a shot of the part of the restaurant we sat in.

It was such a perfect evening we were able to enjoy dinner with the doors to the terrace open.

I know I have said this before but I am going to say it again, Joe and I have the best family and friends we could ever hope for. Here are some of the cards and gifts we received.

The first card we received was from my mother and it was the cutest card I've seen. This is what it said:

"Marriage is easy, Marriage is hard,

Marriage takes time (and a big credit card!)

Marriage is challenging, Marriage is fun,

Marriage is cuddling when each day is done...

Marriage takes patience and practice and trust,

Marriage takes two who know laughter's a must.

Marriage is magic, Marriage is dreams

And "let's-get-away-for-the-weekend" type schemes.

Marriage is simple, Marriage is tough,

Marriage takes guts when the going gets rough...

For Marriage demands all the best you can give,

And gives you life's best every day that you live."

I received this at work from our great friends Mallory and Brian! What a huge surprise that we enjoyed very much.

On an OPI side note I was able to paint my nails with a very appropriate color:

You'll have to wait and see what it looked like on till the end of the month. ;)

One Year Ago Exactly

On this day one year ago I made a promise to a man in front of all my friends and family. Little did I know what life had planned for us. I sit here today revisiting those memories and feelings and I can't help but think how lucky I am. So many things have changed and so many emotions were felt this past year but I wouldn't change one single thing. Everyone's life changes when they enter into a marriage but we have taken change to an extreme. From the moment we said "I Do" things changed forever. We became much closer, truly feeling the lifetime bond we had made. I knew deep in my heart that this was the man for me. 

Fast forward to one year later. (Exactly!) I am now blogging about our first year of marriage while sitting in our new apartment in New York. We have a whole new life in every way. We've moved, rented a new apartment, gotten two new jobs, two new schools, and most importantly a new life plan. I can't say I expected this much change but I can say that this is the happiest I have ever been. I am excited to enter into our second year of marriage but learning from experience I defiantly cannot predict where we will be one year from now!!

During this past year there are two quotes/phrases that I have heard over and over:

"Happy Wife, Happy Life"

I was first told this on my Wedding day. Sense then I have heard this so many times I cannot count. In the beginning I didn't like this quote very much just because it sounded like I was in control of my Husbands happiness. (If I didn't get those new Gucci shoes he was not going to be a happy man!) <-- This is how this quote rang in my head. Over the last year I have really thought about it a lot and have found a new meaning in it. Women in general are very emotional and caring beings. In a marriage it takes two to make things work and this is also true for the quote above. When a wife is happy it is contagious so that makes the husband happier and in a brighter mood. On the other hand the only way a wife is happy is if the husband is happy as well. Women in general tend to express more feeling, while men happy or not may not show it as much. This is way after a year of marriage I can say that overall, I think the quote is true.

"The First Year of Marriage is the Hardiest"

If this is true then Joe and I are cruising down Easy Street. ;) I really think this quote does not pertain to Joe and I. We got all the hard stuff out of the way before our first year of marriage. We moved in together shortly after getting engaged and spent some time adjusting to living with each other. In reality no marriage or person is perfect and I know we have both ups and downs that lie ahead of us. But we have made a promise to each other that whatever happens we will deal with it together.

Thank you to everyone who supported us through the move. We could not have done it alone. Some of my fondest memories are the memories I made with my closest friends and family packing up our things while laughing (and crying) through the whole process. We miss everyone so much but I know in my heart that this is where we are supposed to be. We love you all and thank you for being a part of our fun, crazy, emotional, but most of all one of a kind journey.

Not Everything In Life Can Be Perfect

I have mentioned many times how much I love our apartment. It has a lot of space in all the right places and awesome little touches that make it more of a home than an apartment. 

We have had some issues with the upstairs neighbor but lately it has become so much worse. About a month ago Joe and I decided to make a call to our landlord to let him know we had a problem. The upstairs apartment has mostly hardwood floors and the tenant insists on walking around her apartment in heels before she leaves and after she gets home. She plays music which we mostly cannot hear except for the bass which travels directly through the floor. For the first three months Joe and I just put up with it. (But I will say we never got used to it) Last month about 10:30pm the tenant decided she was going to work out with hand weights which she dropped repeatedly. This is when we decided to make the first call to the landlord. We figured we would put up with the noise unless it interrupted our sleep. After the call was made to the landlord he generously purchased area rugs for the upstairs tenants and for the next couple of days it was quiet. 

Fast forward to this week, 3:30am Joe and I were woken up to the sound of high heels on hardwood floors. Luckily, it only lasted a couple minutes and we drifted back to sleep. 4:45am we are woken again to what sounds like someone running in place directly above our bed. The next day I made the second call to the landlord and he suggested we meet with the tenant in my apartment so she could hear what we hear.

The time came (I was not excited for this meeting) Joe was still at work when we all met in my apartment. It was my landlord, tenant, tenants young daughter(not sure why she would bring her young daughter to this meeting but okay), and me. Our landlord went upstairs to walk around to show her how much the sound travels and the entire time she was talking my ear off defending herself. When our landlord returned the show began. She explained that she never wears heels upstairs because she leaves them by the door, (false) she also has no idea what we are hearing in the morning because she is at the gym at 5:30 every morning, (false - did she forget that she parks right outside our window and see her car here every morning) she continues, there is no way we could be hearing bass from her music because she only listens to gospel, (uhhh false) and the finale was when she turned to me and said she was frustrated that when she accidentally dropped her hand weight I called the landlord right away to complain. I was shocked and just laid on the kill them with kindness act and explained that we were not worried about the noises until it started to wake us up on work nights. 

The meeting ended and it has been a couple days sense. I am happy to report that things here have been relatively quiet. Currently the noise does not bother me as much as knowing I have a crazy person living above me. What would you do in this situation? We will see how it goes and I will keep you posted... cross your fingers!!

My Wish List

Lately, I have been addicted to reading so today I decided to edit my Barns and Noble wish list. (Hint hint mom) ;)

Check out my wish list and let me know if you think it's missing anything... I love getting book recommendations from people!

You can see my wish list Here

Review Edition: Heart of the Matter by: Emily Giffin

Wow... I can't really say much about this book besides READ IT! Ten pages into this book I jumped onto eBay to order another book of hers. Unfortunately, that book didn't come soon enough because I finished this book in a couple days! So now I am reading something else (We will get to that later) but her other book keeps calling my name from the book shelf.

☻☻☻☻☻

5 out of 5 smiles - A must read

Two Meals for the Price of One

If you know me well you know that I like a bargain. When I found a cooking show that focused on good food for cheap prices I was hooked. Last week I choose to make one of the recipes from the show.

Pepperoni and cheese casserole with garlic bread and green salad. 

The pepperoni and cheese casserole included pepperoni, cheese, onions, tomatoes, zucchini, noodles, and spices.

For the garlic bread I made the garlic spread with things I already had in the kitchen, chopped garlic, butter, parsley, and dried basil.

I cheated with the salad which is just a bagged salad with an added tomato.

While cooking the above meal I saved half the loaf of uncooked garlic bread and reserved one cup of the sauce that went in the noodles.

The next evening we took the tomato, pepperoni sauce and put it on top of the left over garlic bread and covered with cheese, then baked for 10 minutes.

Two very different meals for the price of one.

Yum!

Pepperoni and Cheese Casserole recipe Here

Review Edition: Pledged by: Alexandra Robbins

This is the second time I have read this book and sadly, I don't love it at much as I loved it the first time. The booked is based on a true story that follows four girls through one year of sorority life.The story is a good one, keeps your attention throughout the entire book but there are a couple things that bother me about this book. There are four different main characters and each chapter jumps between the four girls to tell their story. This can be kind of confusing and if you stop reading for about a week or so like I did you tend to be lost once you resume reading. Between telling the girls stories the author frequently shares her own story, research, or facts about a topic. At first I loved this because it gives you more background information about the Greek system, as the book went on I became annoyed at the interruptions to the story. Overall it is a good interesting read that I would recommend.

☻☻☻☻☺

4 out of 5 smiles – An enjoyable read

OPI Colors of the Month: August

I am beginning a new monthly post about my OPI obsession. These are the colors I wore throughout the month of August. 

"Planks a Lot"

"Alpine Snow"

"Fly" & "Alpine Snow"