Yikes! I forgot to Blog?!

Hey space here- long time no chat. For real- I think the last time I posted something was in July. JULY!

A lot has happened since July. The last time I was here I gave a brief overview of the early summer month and updated on my plans for the rest of the summer. Now it is January of 2016 and life has happened. Quite a bit of it in fact...

New Year, new me, maybe some new blog posts coming? I would love to get back here more often so we will start with that as New Year resolution numero uno.

Second on my list will be more book posts.. I finally tallied up my list of books read for the year and ended with a whopping 120 book reads in 2015. 120! Books! Read! This year I give myself a goal of 135.

Resolution 3- get too at least one new city! In 2015 I was lucky enough to explore Prague, Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges. I know I'm visiting Austin and Houston in March/April but Germany might also be calling my name..

I've also put hiking off of the table- and I may have mentioned this before but as morbid as it sounds, I'm waiting until my two cats pass away. They are both older (14 &15) and I know I only have a few years left with them and would hate to take 6-8 months off and away and have something happen. It will still happen but it might be three or four years.

Other awesome things that happened from July-December. My very best friend in NYC asked me to be her maid of honor! I'm in full blown bachelorette and bridal party planning mode again.

For Halloween I hosted a part at my apartment, which was super fun. My friends and I dressed up as Disney princesses (I was Belle!)

 My sister and I went to a Harry Potter festival outside of Philadelphia, it was insane  (in a good way) and we got to try lots of delicious Harry Potter treats! Butterbeer, Defense Against the Dark Arts Class and a ton of kids (plus adults!) in costume.  I definitely want to go back next year!

I celebrated my 28th birthday and now I officially feel old. Best present of the year: a singing telegram. They still exist.

I traveled to Amsterdam, Brussels and Bruges and had an amazing time. Amsterdam and Bruges were fantastic and I would go back to both in a heartbeat. Brussels was cute and I'm happy I went but I could pass on another trip anytime soon. I also got a short layover in Dublin on my way home and was able to pop into the city for quick lunch. 

canal in Bruges

a waffle in Brussels

chilling in Amsterdam

 And there you have it.. a bit of a reverse of the last 6ish months. Good stuff, for the most part. Hope everyone is doing well and Happy New Year!

Can I pretend I've been here all along?

Obviously I have been somewhere but being here, in this space, has been a rough go. I loved this space when I was really going at it and now I'm indifferent. But I don't want to be. I want to be here again, releasing my small, beautiful voice.

To me, that is what this place is about. Somewhere to relieve the day-to-day stress, to put out the chatter and whining. 

Most recently, I've been working- a lot. In Long Island, which means many hours at a pool, paddleboarding (a new favorite sport) and surprise- running! I started again and I haven't died! I even did a race a few weeks ago, and I kept my target pace! Granted I completed the last two miles in a legit thunderstorm it was basically the highlight of my weekend.

after 2 miles in a thunderstorm- not too shabby!

 This also means living in a house with limited wi-fi, no computers and only a handful of AC units. Needless to say the summer has been interesting so far. 

I went to a super fantastic country music festival in NYC, it was so amazing I want to fast-forward to next years pronto. Luke Bryan, Brad Paisley and Dierks Bently headlined. And I repeat this was the first year! We also saw favorites like Maddie & Tae, Cassedee Pope, Joe Nichols, Randy Houser, Dustin Lynch, Wade Bowen and soo many more. One of the best weekends ever!

did I mention it rained the entire second day? everything I was wearing was completely soaked through...

cause tequila makes her clothes fall off..

I also attended my best friends wedding, and had a spectacular time. Seriously drowned down way too many glasses of wine before my maid of honor speech and then danced the rest of the night away. So much fun.

some more of my chalkboard crafts that I did for the wedding!

look at this cake! is it not amazing?!

the bride and friends!

one of my favorite shots from our photobooth reel

Another event for my alumnae group went down- this time at the rooftop bar at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Even more attended this time, so far so good! 

I've also spent many day visiting with my sister and nephews, they are both getting so big!! And I got to see my Little J and Big J over 4th of July weekend. It was so fantastic to get to give them both hugs, kisses and lots of snuggles. Hoping to see them both (as well as new baby sister!) soon!!

The rest of the summer is looking pretty stellar. My birthday is coming up, not quite sure how I feel about that (28 ack!). On the fun side I booked another trip to Europe. I have a few weeks off in August leading up to my birthday and one of my friends was meant to visit and had to cancel so I was basically like "hey- I have all this free time now, let's go to Europe and party". 24 hours later I have a plane ticket to Amsterdam and Brussels. Plus my return flight gives me a 5.5 hour layover in Dublin which is basically asking me to go get some beers there. I'm beyond excited. 

Drama for the time being was finding out one of my roommates has been stealing from me. This meant packing up all of their things and kicking them out. Locks are changed- done and done.

Basically it's been a whirlwind of a summer so far- hoping to get back into the groove of this place a little better as the summer simmers down... don't get too excited, it may only be a small post here and there. But something is better than nothing!

I hope everyone has had a great summer so far- am trying to start the blog reading catch-up now!!

(p.s I have a million books to review for you all- well not a million, but a lot. I'm book #78 currently for the year)

t-swizzle, dinosaurs, and drinks by the hour

 While I sit here and figure out which direction this blog is going in and what exactly I can write about I am also aware that it has been several weeks since my last post. I can't even say its that I don't have time to write the posts, because I certainly do, but at the same time I don't.

I'm for certain feeling a block- not necessarily a writer's block because I know I could get on here and just futz around with whatever I'm currently up to but I'm not sure that is what type of space I want to be anymore. I'd like to pretend I'm interesting, but do 500-600 people really need to know what I did over the weekend? Sometimes it's nothing.

Current Updates:

1) I spent the first weekend of June in Florida for my best friend's bachelorette and bridal shower, both of which I basically planned myself but am oh so grateful for the help I did receive. It's not as much fun as it sounds planning two events from a different state. The bachelorette party was fun, and thankfully a bit relaxing for myself. We got a hotel room at The Disney Yacht Club and spent the day lounging by the pool. After making ourselves look pretty we had a delicious steak dinner at the Yachtsman Restaurant and then spent several hours dancing and being ridiculous at The Atlantic Dance Hall and Jellyrolls on Disney's Boardwalk.

The bridal shower was the next day. My biggest regret was not putting someone in charge of taking pictures. A big bad on my part. We did take some fun photos with a polaroid camera.. The theme of the party was chevron, in gray, purple and turquoise. For favors I brought down the bride's favorite cupcakes from NYC and gave out mini-bottles of champagne with chevron straws. It was all very cute. And successful, so win in my book!

2) Last weekend started with me replacing the glass on my iphone. Yes folks, it can be done- you too can replace the glass yourself!! The process was a little tough and took A LOT of patience, but saved me a good $75 dollars. I hope I never have to do it again, although I do know now that if I really had to I could. Lots of knocking on wood!

3) Saturday brought the travels of heading to Philadelphia for the Taylor Swift concert!! I went with my sisters and a best friend of mine from NYC. Taylor, as usual, was perfection. She did almost the entire 1989 album, except for maybe one song off the extended version, plus a few oldies (like Trouble, We are Never Getting Back Together and Love Story). Special guests included Mariska Hargitay and Fight Song singer Rachel Platten.

4) Of course since the gang was all together, Sunday meant going to see Jurassic World. I thought it was really good. Another win for the series.

5) This past week I had a few days off while my bosses and the kids traveled to Chicago. I helped my sister in Hoboken with my two sweet nephews for one day and then caught up some more with OITNB the next day plus had my second alumnae chapter event of the summer. Did I mention that I became of my alumnae chapter here in the city? It's been.. interesting. But so far successful!

#hollinsalums

Skipping the link-up today because I didn't plan this well enough.. my b. hopefully next week!

Have a great weekend!!

summer madness countdown in 3..2..1..!

What a week, what a week! I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and Memorial Day!

This weekend kicks off the start of a lot of craziness and adventure for me- it starts slow with an alumnae Picnic in the Park tomorrow followed by helping my mother babysit my two adorable nephews. Then we really launch into crazy!! Anyways.. to the favorites!

Favorite Snack:

  Occasionally I have to work later hours, until 10/11 pm and I always crave something sweet. Cute these delicious barkThins. I've only tried the Dark Chocolate Almond flavor so far but one chunk of it cures me for the night and is oh so tasty!!

Favorite Book:

 

Well I finished Under the Banner of Heaven which was a little crazy and very interesting. But my favorite book this week was The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty. Which is basically about how the smallest decisions in our lives can impact and change them forever. It was really good, I may have read all of the authors books at this point (but I hope not!) and they are all wonderful!

Favorite Store:

I've totally been digging Athleta this week/month/forever. I think they quality of their workout clothes are just as amazing, if not better than Lululemon, and you actually have the option of trying them during a workout and if you don't like them you can return them. I feel they cater towards every woman, not just the skinny and the clothes fit well, do what they say and make me feel comfortable in my own skin. I've dropped way too much money there the last few years and yet not enough.

 

Favorite Show:

Game of Thrones, for sure. I literally have 20 minutes left of Season 4 and then I can start the current Season 5.. #plansfortheweekend

Favorite Song:
I know I post these way too often but the show is soooo good, and the music even better. It also might have to do with the fact that I finally watched the finale this week. I've got Nashville on my brain!

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Happy Friday!