Family Times are the Best Times

Hiiiiii!  I've just come back from a whirlwind 4 day visit to PA!  We had a bunch of family things going on and my sister and many of my cousins came in from out of state.  It was wonderful and I was so sad to leave last night.  It makes me so happy when all of my sisters, cousins and extended family are reunited.  I love the times when we can all come together.  It reminds me of when we were little and we used to do things together all the time, before everyone grew up, spread and out and moved away.

Ok enough sappiness.  On to the recap!  Warning: picture overload ahead.

The weekend started out with a surprise 90th birthday party for my grandfather!  He is truly the patriarch of our family, and the person who instilled the notion in all of us that family comes first.  Holidays and parties were always hosted at my grandparents house when I was little, and there is nothing my grandfather loves more than having his whole family gathered together.  He walked into the party totally surprised!  (Probably because his actual birthday isn't until October! HA But we planned the event when everyone could fly into town.)

Here are a few pics from the party:

My grandparents and their grandchildren

My grandparents with my family

 

Sisters!

My 5 nieces and nephews!

 

 

I would say the party was a raging success (without any actual raging, of course).

 

The following day was my niece's Christening day.  My sister asked me to be Godmother.  I now have 4 Godchildren!  Each time I'm asked, I feel so special that the parents have chosen me to serve that role in their children's lives :)  After the Christening there was a big party at my parents house.  It happened to be the HOTTEST day of the year so far, so most people stayed indoors. Which meant my parent's house was pretty much bursting at the seams!  Ah well, the more the merrier. 

My new Goddaughter

 

The next day we took the kids to an amusement park.  I can now successfully cross that item off my summer bucket list! Yee haw.  This particular park was one that my parents used to take us to when we were little (Knoebels), and it was the first time we had been back there in 20+ years!  It was also the first time I had been to an amusement park at all in years.  Something about being there kind of makes you feel like a kid again.  Who am I kidding, I pretty much feel like a kid every day.  HA  #nannylife

 

We spent all day there which wore the kids (and adults) OUT!

 

Post flume-ride AKA soaked!

 

 



Other highlights from the extended weekend include:

 

Picking giant zucchinis from my parent's garden:

 

Spending more time with my newest nephew who is now 1 month old!

And of course, some Vegan Treats (cake batter & chocolate soft serve):

Someone recently told me that my family sounds lovely from the way I speak about them and it's true. I love them.  I cherish the times when we are all able to be together.  Especially my sisters.  I miss them both often and wish I could pop over to see my nieces and nephews any time I wanted!  Time really does seem to speed up as you get older.  I guess the best we can do is to enjoy the moments we have together and hold them in our heart until the next time.  Kind of like what I do with summer to get me through each winter :)

I hope you've all been well and making memories of your own!


What were you up to this weekend?

Are you close to your family?

When was the last time you went to an amusement park?!

Bethlehem Birthday Weekend

Turning 36 has been pretty great so far.  I don't know why I never thought to drag out my birthday celebration over an entire week before?!  Genius.  It was nice to have a few extra days off this weekend to visit with extended family and friends that I don't see often. 

The weekend started off with me driving up Interstate 95 in a snowstorm Friday morning?!  The first day of Spring brought 3-6 inches of snow from MD to PA.  It was weird.  It felt more like the middle of winter but whatever.  I am holding fast to the notion that Spring is here despite the bipolar tendencies of Mother Nature.

On Saturday, my parents took me out for a delicious Italian meal.  It was full of carbs which proved to be integral to my long run the next day.  I mean, Italians really know what they're doing when it comes to carb loading.  Behold:

My mom got a smartphone last year and she really loves taking pics with her phone now.  Therefore, she felt the need to document me eating dinner:

 

 

She also knows how to put fancy filters on her photos.  Look at those SKILLS!  The restaurant told us they were just starting to feature Vegan Treats on their menu and they gave me one gratis for my bday!  Just winning all around at that meal.  I love that local businesses are featuring my beloved bakery. 

After that giant meal, I went to visit one of my best friends and her family.  I got to hang out with her kiddos, including the new baby!  Who despite being 1 month old now still looks just as tiny as when I first met her.

I have no idea how we knew to coordinate our outfits.  We must be psychically connected.  My friend also surprised me with a non-dairy birthday cake!  I never forget that I have the best friends in the entire world.

On Sunday I knew I needed to get a long run in.  Last week I did 10 so anything greater than that was fair game.  It was pretty cold and windy in PA but my running felt really good that day so I decided to go for the whole 13 to get an idea of where I was time wise.  Not too shabby Bean.  Not too shabby at all.  The one thing I forgot to do here was put some fuel at the halfway point or in my pants (#twss) so by mile 11 I definitely felt like I needed some glucose.  Next time!

 

I came back from that run to the smell of my mom's homemade sauce on the stove.  She was having our extended family and friends over for yet MORE birthday celebrating!  The good thing about having multiple birthday cakes is that you get MULTIPLE wishes! Am I right?! 

 

Sunday dinner featured (what else) MORE pasta, sausage, stuffed shells (def NOT vegan), garlic bread, salad, bean dip, artichoke dip, and shrimp cocktail.  If you are a part of my family, or if you are invited to a family gathering, there is 0 chance you will ever be hungry.  I'm pretty sure Italians think eating can cure any ill.  You have a headache?  Eat something.  Stomachache?  Eat something?  The flu?  You better eat something.  HAHAHA  That's my mom on repeat. 

 

 

I had lots of help from all my cousins, nieces and nephews blowing out those candles. 

 

And to top off that epic weekend of family, friends and eating, I stopped at Vegan Treats to get the bubblegum ice cream they featured for me that weekend!

 

I hate to admit this, but it was TOO sweet for me.  I hadn't had bubblegum ice cream since I was a kid, so I guess it's not a stretch to say my taste buds have changed since then.  This got me thinking about memories and the way we perceive things in our past.  I think memories have a way of endearing themselves to you, and making things sometime seem more perfect and rosy than they actually were.  This little ice cream reminded me that it's important to stay in the PRESENT and experience things as they are NOW, instead of pining for the way things WERE.  You can never go back in time, and there's probably a reason for that.  Thank you deep spiritual guru soft serve.

Well, I think it's time I finally conclude my birthday celebrations, as well as this post.  I've been rambling forever.  I hope you had a great weekend and encourage you to celebrate your next birthday as many times as possible!


Does your family celebrate special occasions with giant meals?!

Do you think you sometimes see the past through rose-colored glasses?





Weekend Snapshots and It's my Birthday, Shorty!

Source

 

 

Go shorty, it's your birthday.  We gonna party like it's your birthday.  We gonna sip Bacardi like it's your birthday. And you know we don't give a F it's not your birthday.

 

Except it IS my birthday!! Wahoooooooo.  It's going to be real crazy up in here today.  I'm at work so that means we'll be sipping on water and milk instead of Bacardi.  We'll probably break out the toy drums, maracas and xylophone and party real hard toddler style.  Hahaha

 

No worries.  I celebrated with a friend over the weekend, and I'll be going home for an extended weekend on Friday to celebrate with family and friends (and get my bubblegum ice cream!!) so I'm going to keep this party going for days.

 

Hope you all had a nice weekend too!  Here's what I was up to:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Birthday week = automatically a win.  Make it awesome!

 

 

 

Any birthday advice for a brand new 36 year old?!

 

What were you up to this weekend?

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weekend of Firsts

Top o' the morning and happiest of Mondays to you all!  I hope everyone had splendid little weekends.  I did a wide range of activities this weekend; many of them for the first time.  How is that possible you wonder for an old timer such as myself?!  Well, let me tell you.

1.  On Saturday morning I got my FIRST haircut in 2.5 years!!!!!!  Finally made that happen.  I figured it was either that or become full-on Rastafarian.  I went into the salon looking like a shaggy mess and came out lookin' feelin' like a million bucks.  The girl that cut my hair was super talented and really knew her way around a curly head of hair.  When she was done she put my wet hair in cornrow/twists and told me to sleep in them and I'd wake up with the most magical hairdo ever.  I obliged and even went to the mall to do some Christmas shopping with my hair looking like this:

If only we could all be this cool! 

And then Sunday morning I woke up, unrolled them, and looked like this:

 

Get a good look, because my hair will never, ever look that good again!

 

 

2.  While out doing said shopping, I purchased my FIRST Christmas presents of the season.  At this rate I should be finished by about Jan 31st or so.  Making solid progress over here.

 

 

3.  On Sunday morning I attended my Nanny Baby's FIRST birthday party!  I have known this little peanut since he was 8 weeks old and it is amazing that an entire year has gone by.  This has been the fastest year of my life, and I don't know if it's because I'm so much happier than I had been for a long time, or if I'm just getting really old!  It has been a joy to care for and watch him grow from a teeny tiny baby into a walking, talking little boy.  It has really been a meaningful, purposeful way to spend the last year of my life. 

 

 

4.  Sunday evening I had my very first Pho ever.  (I totally pronounced that word incorrectly as 'Fo' until I saw a special on the Food Network and learned the correct pronunciation is 'Fuh'.)  My friend recommended her favorite dish but I decided to be an adventurous little lamb and ordered something else.  Andddddd, I didn't love it.  It sure looked pretty though.  My broth was sweet and sour, which is not really my thing.  Her broth had a different flavor which I preferred.  Better luck next time, Bean.

 



5.  And lastly, not a first whatsoever, but I watched my favorite Christmas movie of all time:

 

Remember kids, "no [wo]man is a failure who has friends".

 

 

 



What were you up to this weekend?!

Do anything for the first time?!

Week in Review

Happy Friday!  I want thank you all for the birthday wishes on my last post!  All the messages were so sweet :)  I kind of went into my birthday feeling a bit meh about it, but I actually had a lovely birthday weekend and a really stellar week.  And I'll tell ya, now that I've been 35 for almost a full week, I feel incredibly older and wiser :/

Here's what's been going on in my life this week...


1.  I think my back is *almost* completely healed!  (I say almost because I don't want to jinx anything!).  I did a high intensity circuit workout that included burpees and pushups, and also lifted weights this week, including free weights for shoulders and tris.  These workouts definitely would not have been possible 2 weeks ago.  Dare I say, I'm BACK baby and I'm looooooooooving every minute of it!


2.  The city of Baltimore is being overrun by foxes.  No, not really.  BUT, the cutest little fox walked right past the window I was standing at at work the other day!  It was probably only 10 feet from where I was standing; I have never seen a fox up that close before.  It looked cute and snuggly and I wanted to take him home.  Do foxes and cats get along?  Prob not.  Oh well.

via morguefile.com

Not my photo - but it looked kind of like this.  SO CUTE!

 

 

3.  Grapes have approximately 5 calories each.  Who knew?  I found this out through an article on Facebook, which I can't locate at the moment.  Good info to know when you are eating the entire bag of approximately 200 grapes!  There goes breakfast and lunch.  I actually always felt like I was kind of on a sugar high when I would overeat grapes and this article stated that they are high in some simple sugar which is known to cause a quick spike in blood sugar. 

 

 

4.  Birthday sushi is the best sushi!

Instagram

 

 

5.  I am possibly one of the only people on the planet not obsessed with the missing plane.  I feel terrible for the families of the passengers aboard but I kinda think the entire world has gone crazy with these black hole/conspiracy/alien theories.  I also didn't learn until today that CNN has now devoted their entire newscast to 24/7 coverage of the plane mystery?!?!?!  How are we supposed to find out what else is going on in the world right now??

 

6.  4 year olds are incredible abstract artists.  Exhibit A: This painting done by my niece that I received in the mail this week, and is now proudly displayed on my refrigerator.

 

 

 

7.  Morningstar Farms black bean burger > Gardenburger black bean burger.  Like x1000.  I am addicted to the Morningstar Farms variety, and I legit had to throw out the Gardenburger ones.  They made me gag.

 

These are the best!

 

 



8.  And last but not least, SPRING IS HERE!!!  I really hope Old Man Winter got the memo and gets the heck out of Dodge.  Winter, if you're reading, you're no longer welcome here.  Move it along.

 

 

The combination of my birthday and Spring's arrival this week just made me feel happy and hopeful!  I hope you all had a wonderful week as well!

 

 

How was your week?  What went down??