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!

cheers for the weekend!

Can I just say that having a job where I actually get holidays off is just about the most amazing thing- it's a perk so easily taken for granted and I now appreciate even more. That being said- hooray for a four-day weekend!

On to the favorites of the week...

Favorite Meal:

Last night I made lamb chops all by myself and they were delicious and so so so easy. Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures #badblogger. But you put a rack of lamb chops in a ziploc bag, cover with avocado oil, salt and oregano and let for at least 10 minutes up to a couple of hours. I then turned on a convection oven to 450. When hot, put the chops in (covering the bone with foil) 15 minutes on each side. voila dinner is served!

Favorite Book:

This is a tough one, I read Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell which was super cute and I loved the whole fanfiction aspect of it, because I myself am a reader of Harry Potter fanfiction and my favorites are the Harry/Draco ships. I also really really enjoyed My Sunshine Away as well though by M.O Walsh which tells the story of young boy/teen living in Louisiana the assault of his child hood crush. It's obviously a little heavier but really talked and pushed on that young boys, like girls, explore feelings and their sexual aspect but are then punished and embarrassed over them. I'm also currently reading Under the Banner of Heaven by Jon Krakauer and am learning a lot of Mormons.

Favorite Show:

My roommates and I started watching The Blacklist a few nights ago and now I'm hooked. I also finally started watching season four of GoT, I know I'm way behind. Although with how social media is reacting to the last few episodes of season five I'm not sure how much longer I will be a fan of the TV show going in its own direction...

Favorite Purchase:

I bought a memory foam off of RueLaLa and it arrived this week. I immediately put it on my bed and woah I've been missing out in my life. Seriously have slept like a baby the last few nights...

Favorite Song:

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Happy Friday!

swagbucks, mad bucks

I'm pretty sure I may have already mentioned this site on here before, but if I haven't I'm doing it now.

Swagbucks. There, I said it.

I go through phases about using this site, but when I'm in my "on" phase I'm always so confused as to way I'm not always using it.

But let me back up. Swagbucks, similar to eBates, is a site that allows you to earn gift cards and prizes based on answering surveys, playing games, answering polls and shopping.  I think over the years since I've started using the site I've earned about $105 in amazon giftcards. Which may not seem like a ton but when I probably only put in 10-15 min of my time here and there then it is quite nice.

Basically I'm in my "on" phase right now and need to spread the love. I've already earned $10 in Amazon giftcards this week alone. And it's Tuesday. Which always leads me back to the "why are you not doing this everyday?" question.

It is easy- it's free, and they have many other options other than Amazon to pick from. I just like them because man, books.

Sign up today!!

and seriously the name in itself is grand.

awkward schmwkward

Let's see.. this week I encountered Michael Kors (he is my new work building celeb) and woah man, this is total different experience than Tim. First off Tim is always dressed to perfection- even when I encountered him at 7 am he had on well pressed jeans, loafers, a button down with a tie and a blazer on. Second he was super nice, confident, happy to lend a hand and chat about the weather.

Michael- not so much. He was wearing kind of drab clothes- cargo pants, sandals, and a tshirt. And you can just tell by looking at how he carries himself that is might be a tool. I can't actually say though, we didn't entirely interact.

Anyways, let's talk about this weeks favorites!

 

Favorite snack- an English muffin toasted with cream cheese and jelly. It is delicious and probably not that great for you and I really don't care. Nom nom!

Favorite gym class this week with the Class Pass- Uplift Strength.

Uplift is a women's only gym in Manhattan and this full body workout totally kicked my butt. I can only be thankful that I was already moderately in shape from spinning the last few weeks because if I had picked this as my first class in a while I may have died (or not been able to walk the next day). Plus their locker room was sick- all Malin+Goetz products, that actually included face soap and moisturizer for once, all the hair styling products you could ask for (hairdryer- given, but also multiple curling irons, and straighteners). They offered free snacks afterwards too...

 

Favorite book this week- Landline by Rainbow Rowell. Totally predictable but so ridiculously cute and charming. I'm kind of getting into this whole cheesy romance book thing...

Favorite purchase- I may have been a little too excited and ordered the Popsugar Special Edition Must Have Summer. Their special editions are always so fantastic and this time I was determined to not miss out!  (looks like there are still a few left if you want in on the fun!! https://musthave.popsugar.com/#special-edition)

And this weeks favorite jam... Jason Derulo- Want to Want Me. That catchy beat, fun lyrics- I can't get it out of my head!! Plus they keep playing it in all my gym classes.

(p.s Grooveshark seems to be no more and I haven't' figured out how to embed songs differently so until further notice this link-up is music videos!) (RIP Grooveshark)

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Happy Friday!