Doggies

Back in November, I was given a free dog, named Boomer. I changed his name to Fallon (after one of my favorite comedian's~James T. Fallon). I may have written about him before, but I'm not positive. Just in case, here he is:

Fallon is what some would call: crazy! He yips at every noise and everyone. He doesn't really like to play with the toys I got him, and I describe him as an old man to people. {haha} I thought that I should get him a friend in order for him to calm down a bit and have a friend while I'm gone at work. Cut to:

His name when I got him was Chunky. For obvious reasons, I changed it to Jimmy. (Again, after James T. Fallon) I called him Jim, Jimmy, Jimmy Jam, Jimmy Jammer, and Jammer Pants. I enjoy him so much!! Unfortunately, Fallon is not such a fan. Although, they get a long fine enough, Fallon is clearly not happy that someone else is in his home. Over the last 6 weeks that Jimmy has been here, Fallon has peed in the house a half dozen times, nipped at people, and yesterday morning, he bit me! If he was going to become accustomed to Jimmy being here, he would've done it by now. That makes me sad beause it also means Fallon has to go. I can't have him biting me or anyone else for that matter.
I somehow have been blessed to have gotten both of these dogs for free, so I am fortunate to not be losing out on any money. Because I'm talking about dogs, I have to mention my boy's favorite doggy too. As I mentioned in a previous blog, my bff came down to visit while my boy was visiting as well. She brought along her little lady, Shelby:

Needless to say, Tunde loves Shelb and hates when he can't see her!
What are some thoughts you have on why Fallon can't just get a long with Jimmy??

Surprise, Surprise

For the most part, I have turned into an old lady and very much try to stay to a schedule. This is very different from when I was in high school, college, living in FL, and even just a year ago when I still had roommates. I work M-F and try to be in bed by 10pm on work nights & up at 7 to take out the dogs and get ready for the day. (You will notice that my last few posts have all been at 6:30am...don't kid yourself into thinking I have been getting up earlier to blog..haha..these are scheduled posts). So, all of that to say, when a friend asked me to go to a concert on a weeknight, I had to think twice before saying yes. Not only because I like sleep, but because it was Jason Derullo and I wasn't sure if I knew more than one of his songs. But, I decided, why not?? So I went to the concert, held in a local college's gymnasium and had an odd, yet fun time with some church girlies.

Then, I had an exciting surprise visit from my sister and her boyfriend while they were on their spring break and had gone to SC for a wedding as well. Kayla was the first person in my family to meet my boy and I was really excited for that to happen. I was also excited that Tunde would be meeting a member of my family as well as my most likely to be brother in law. They hit it off right away. Antonio and Tunde both know what is called pigeon language and Kayla and him were able to talk soccer and basketball.

I typically don't enjoy surprises, mostly when I know they are coming, but these two turned out to be great:)



Comedy

If you know me, you know that I have a love for all things SNL (Saturday Night Live), Tina Fey, Jimmy Fallon, Amy Poehler, etc, etc... So it should come as no surprise that when Tina's book Bossypants came out, I bought it that day. I think she is so sarcastic, dry, and smart in her humor. Not many women are able to be smart and funny. Her book is kind of scattered and if you don't read it over the course of a few days, it might be hard to follow. She writes about being a wife, mom, and career woman as well as SNL, 30 Rock, and the fact that she is a woman in a man's world. If you enjoy Tina Fey, this book is a must read:)

Side Note: Just look at the cover of this book...those are clearly large man hands hahahaha....

Wedding Prep

Back on New Year's Eve, a good friend of mine got engaged. Monica and Blake set a quick date for May 28th and she asked me to be a bridesmaid. As part of my wedding duties, the maid of honor and I planned the bridal shower and bachelorette festivities. Part of that process involved us making homemade invitations in order to spend some time together and save the money on buying them.

We included recipe cards with each invitation in order for the guests to bring along their favorite one and start the bride and groom off with a mini cookbook. From the invitation step we went to the actual day of the shower and all the yummy foods we had prepared. For the first time ever, I made cucumber sandwiches and they were pretty good:). I also made ham salad sandwiches, pasta salad, and a punch. Other items on the menu: tuna salad sandwiches, fruit bowl, deviled eggs, veggie tray, and oreo truffles!!

Monica's mom came down for the special occasion and many of her work friends got her some great gifts. The cake was super yummy and I wish I had taken a picture of that!! I tried to get crafty and make shirts for our bachelorette night out and ended up with these:

Unfortunately, we didn't end up wearing them, but they were still cute. I was happy to be a part of another wedding as this made number 4 for me. Number 5 is coming up in September too!! When it came to the actual wedding day, I forgot to bring my camera, but I did get a couple of my phone. This is how our hair was done:

Here are some candids while we got ready for pictures and waited for it to begin:

And finally, right after the vows:

Just to make it clear: Monica is drinking fruit punch and orange juice only...no alcohol since she is expecting:)I also have to make note that as honored as I was to be in this wedding and see friends that were there, I did have to miss another dear friends big day. I love you Bethany Rose and I'm very happy for you!!

Jewelry

Who doesn't love getting some jewelry, having some snacks, and fellowshipping with some great gals? My friend Allison hosted a jewelry party a few months back and after going to her party, I decided to book one as well. (I should mention that I'm a sucker for informercials-I would order anything from those!) Well, it worked out that my mom and siblings were in the area that same weekend for a little mini vacation of their own as it was spring break for them. So my mom and sisters were able to come join in on the fun. I made my favorite buffalo chicken wing dip (Mully would be jealous), some muffins, some fruit, and some cheese w/ crackers. The dip isn't pretty while in the process:

Not too appetizing there, but trust me..soooo good!! Now, I have to preface a statment that I'm about to make with this one: I told everyone that came to my party No pressure! Don't feel obligated to buy, I just wanted people to show up. Well, no one listened to me! Due to all of the great bonuses I reached (having 10 people there, having my party on the day I said I would, etc, etc) and sales from the party, I received $325 worth of free stuff. I was so excited!! So here is what I got with that:

All I had to pay was the tax, so it was less then 30 bucks for all of this!! It was awesome:) Have you ever hosted a party before? What were the perks you got from it??

A Late Birthday Blog

My birthday was months ago, but I like to celebrate it often:) Being that I didn't do a post about it, I wanted to make mention of it now. Never too late right? I think my favorite thing about this year's birthday was that my best friend, Kate, came down from NY for the week and she was able to meet my boyfriend and really get to spend time with us, just as I was able to get to know her fiance more. They are getting hitched in September and I have the privilege of being the maid of honor (and she will be the same for mine).

One of my favorite restaurants in Florida is a place called Cheddar's. It's like a Cracker Barrell style place, but not so much emphasis on the breakfast. They make a broccoli cheese casserole that's to die for! Well, about six months ago, they opened a Cheddar's in Roanoke, which is about an hour from here and to celebrate my day, we took the drive to eat there. My work pal Sara, and her husband Bryan joined us for dinner as well.

Side note: I have mentioned Sara before and she has a blog as well called the Running in Pink Project. Check it out! Bryan has recently been outsourced from his job here and they will be moving to FL soon. I'm bummed, but also very excited as I miss FL very much and get to fill them in on all the cool places to go/see/do.



After eating dinner, we walked over to the mall (it's located in the same parking lot) and I had my first visit to build a bear. Kate bought me an adorable green bear with a shamrock dress being that my birthday is in March and I'm Irish.

In order to keep the birthday training moving, I was also able to go out to lunch with some work friends, once I returned from my mini vacation. There is this great pizza place in downtown Lynchburg called Waterstone. They have this Italian Chopped Salad that I swear comes straight from heaven. Three kinds of meat, fresh mozzarella, gorgonzola, and sun-dried tomatoes with a mustard vinegrette. Yes please!!

Even though I can't ever finish it, I always order the full size because it's just that yummy! They also make a great warm, crab dip appetizer, but I don't have a pic of that. What kind of yummy eats do you indulge yourself with on your birthday??



Bible Study

Back in September I joined a community group at my church and met with eight other ladies once a week to have dinner and review whatever book we were using as our study. We started with Crazy Love by Francis Chan.

This book was a great read and very challenging. I definetly recommend it!! We then moved on to another study about women in the Bible, but I can't recall who wrote that as we didn't stay with it for long. We found that it was very basic and wanted something more. We have just begun our first week of the Esther study by Beth Moore.

Because we have dinner each time, we all take turns making it/bringing it. It was on one such evening that I was exposed to homemade sushi.

We had so much fun putting together different combinations and trying each other's rolls. I ate only vegetable because I don't enjoy uncooked seafood. This did open the door to trying restaurany sushi, as long as it is cooked...and since this night, I've had sushi twice...pics to come later:) Sometimes after Bible study, we will head out to the local frozen yogurt shop and get a little treat. This little gem is called Sweet Frog's and is a Christian company. You get the size cup you want, fill it with whatever flavor you want, add your toppings, and then weigh it to pay. I love love love the peanut butter, but that's because I'm addicted to peanut butter! But, I also enjoy the fruit kinds with loads of fresh fruit on top.

My buddy Allison is a huge fan of Sweet Frog and she frequented it almost daily when they first opened:

But, after a while, it was just too much. I would recommend it to anyone that comes for a visit though!

Coming up soon: my jewelry party, my NYC trip, some great restaurants, and a couple good books as well:)

Thanks for coming back!

My Bad Memory

Ok so, it's with much regret that I have to say I can't remember what movies and books I was going to blog about when I mentioned I would in the last post. On the flip side, I do have new movies and books and yummy food to write about!! So, as I attempt to get more on track with this, please bear with me:)