NYC

When you are asked where you are from and you respond NY, people always assume the city. I grew up in upstate NY and don't claim to be from the Big Apple. I do enjoy a visit there every now and again. When my friend and fellow blogger Sara, told me that she had only been there once around Christmas, we quickly made plans for her to go again in the spring! Our first priority was to see a broadway musical. We got tickets for one of the cheaper shows because the trip itself was costing so much overall. We ended up seeing Wonderland. It was like a modern day Alice...I thoroughly enjoyed it and was even more psyched to learn that we were going to the last show! It was being taken off broadway because it wasn't as popular as people thought it would be, but again, I really liked it!!

As I mentioned, we were able to go to the last show of the season and we had a great surprise at the end. I didn't get any pictures of it because I was too busy clapping and crying, but the two main characters got engaged on stage:) It was so awesome to be a part of and I loved every bit of it!!
Being that NYC has so much more to offer, I have to do another post about the great food and shopping as well....stay tuned;)

Babies

I am so proud that I am an aunt! I love my little niece and nephew:)....My parents are foster parents of my two little cousins and a couple of others and they are too cute not to share. Some friends of mine recently adopted a little one from Ethiopia and I have some adorable pictures they have sent me via text message that I love and another friend who's little girl lives pretty close to me. So this post is dedicated to the little kids in my life that I love so very much:
My niece Kendal & my nephew Evan:

Kendal has changed so much since the first pic of her @ the hospital then to a recent shot from this summer. So adorable though:). My little cousin Ariona is a ham for the cameras:

One of my parents little foster kids' Emily: (Tunde is great with kids {wink})

My friend Melanie's little cutie Camden:

Little Scotty & Jamesy, getting a long great from the beginning:

So even though this post was called Babies, some of these little ones aren't babies, but still precious to me:) Who are some people that have stolen your heart??

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??