Outer Banks

This Fourth of July, Anthony and I joined some friends for a road trip to Salvo, North Carolina in the Outer Banks. It turned out to be an amazing trip that was absolutely worth the drive. Here are a few photo highlights from our time at the beach:

Looking forward to going back next year! 

It's Been a Long Time

Well, I guess not posting for almost half a year qualifies as a blogging fail.

But now that's it's summer and I have more time on my hands, I figured I'd start getting back into the blogging swing of things. Here's a quick recap of the past six months:

I turned a quarter of a century and celebrated with some wonderful friends...

Took an amazing trip to Florida...

Celebrated Easter with the fam...

Went to my first (and certainly not my last) Yankee game of the season...

Ran in my second 1/2 marathon...

And broke my foot in the process (here I am 'dancing' at Anthony and Lindsay's wedding with my matching boot buddy)...

Helped my mom surprise my family with this little nugget...

And am still happily engaged planning our wedding...

Of course there were many exciting things in between... birthdays, trips to Baltimore and more... but these were the highlights (hopefully I'm not forgetting any!)

We're headed to the Outer Banks next week and I'll be sure to post more adventures from the trip.

Until then, enjoy your Fourth of July travels <3

We're Engaged!

Yet again, I've gone missing for a little while... but this time, it's because of very happy news!

On December 28th, Anthony proposed! We've been dating for five years and, well, I couldn't be happier!

Anthony and I started dating our sophomore year at Loyola College (now University) in Baltimore. Since then we've gone abroad together, had crazy wonderful college times together, gotten full-time jobs and moved out, survived a long distance relationship and much more. Needless to say, he's my best friend, better half and love of my life.

So, here's how Anthony proposed. He was very insistent on taking me out to dinner that Wednesday night despite the fact that I didn't want to go (I had work in the morning, he did not). His exact words were, 'if I don't give you this tonight, I won't be able to for a long time.' He was acting strange, so naturally my response was, 'wait, you're not proposing or something are you?' He said 'no, I just want to give you your Christmas gift that was back-ordered and, since busy season is here, I won't be able to take you out for a while.' I finally agreed, and Ant made reservations at 340 Grill, for that evening (he knows it's my favorite restaurant in Hoboken).

Anthony picked me up from work that evening with a bag in hand and said that it was the gift that he had been meaning to give me for Christmas. I opened it on the train before dinner and, low and behold, it was the Michael Kohrs watch that I love! He said that was the gift he wanted to give me, and we headed off to dinner (little did I know that the watch was bait to get me off the engagement scent).

Again, Ant was acting weird during dinner. He didn't check his jacket like he always does, and didn't want to order dessert, which usually means something is wrong.

Once dinner was over, he asked that we take a walk along the water to kill time before we met a group of friends at the bar for happy hour. Again, I complained because it was 28 degrees (clearly I made this entire process as difficult as possible), but agreed, so we threw on our coats and headed to Pier C Park (click here to see the pier/view). It was a beautiful night, with a complete view of the NYC skyline and the pier illuminated with white lights.

Once we got down to the end, Anthony said he had a song that he wanted to play for me that he thought I'd really like. Once he hit play, I knew the tune immediately... it was 'Marry Me' by Train. I think my initial response was something like 'wait, you're joking.' He then got down on one knee and asked if I'd marry him! (Obviously there was a speech involved, but I'll spare you the mushy details) My answer was 'of course,' and the rest is history!

We're looking at wedding dates for sometime in 2013, but for right now, we're just enjoying being newly engaged :)

Our Holiday Party! (on a budget)

Saturday night, Jenelle and I threw a Christmas party in our apartment for some of our closest friends. Of course, it wasn't anything too fancy, but we'd like to think that it turned out pretty well!

First things first, we had to decorate. If you're in need of holiday decorations, I highly recommend Walmart. You can buy a bin of 35 ornaments (like these) for only $15! They also have super cheap strings of lights for the walls and the tree. Here's a pic of our tree! Sorry for the poor quality, hopefully Santa will be bringing me a new camera this Christmas :)

Next came the menu. Again, we bought most of our groceries at Walmart since the produce is affordable. Here's what we whipped up:

• Lipton Onion Dip
• Guacamole (my own recipe... I"ll post it one of these days) 
• Paula Deen's Sweet Chicken Bacon Wraps
• Santa Hat Brownies
• Martha Stewart's Macaroni & Cheese

Santa Hat Brownies - Photo Courtesy of Blog Daisy's World

The food ended up costing us around $150 total... not too shabby for feeding 20 people. If you're looking to spend less, I'd probably sub out the mac n' cheese. The cheese (especially Gruyere) can get a little pricey.  Although I thought it was sooooo worth it. 

Hope everyone has a lovely holiday season and enjoys time with family and friends!

Anthony and I in our ridiculous Christmas outfits :) 

 

Apologies for the lack of posting over the past couple of weeks. Unfortunately, my mom, dad, sisters and I lost two very important members of our family within a day of each other last month: My grandfather (known to my sisters and me as 'Papa') and our English Springer Spaniel, Nina.

Fortunately, they both lived long, happy lives and we're all a bit luckier for having felt their warmth and love in our home.

(from left to right) Me, Papa, Mary and Claire circa 1994

Nina and me

Although their gone and very much missed, they'll always have a special place in my heart. Love you both <3

Confetti Rice & Bean Salad

Last night I needed a quick and easy dinner that would leave me with enough leftovers for tonight.  A friend had sent me this recipe off the blog Mel's Kitchen Cafe for 'Confetti Rice and Bean Salad.' Rather than using regular rice, I opted for quinoa (a little healthier) which tasted great. The salad is perfect alongside a veggie burger or some marinated grilled chicken!

I even ended up with enough to freeze!

Photo courtesy of Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Confetti Rice and Bean Salad

* Serves 6 *

INGREDIENTS:
Salad:
3 cups cooked rice, cooled to room temperature (see note)
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups frozen corn, thawed (or same amount fresh corn kernels)
4 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
1 red pepper, seeded, cored and diced
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

Dressing:
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

DIRECTIONS:
In a large bowl, combine all of the salad ingredients and toss. In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the salad. Toss to coat. Chill the salad for at least 2 hours before serving to let the flavors blend.

Just Another Lovely Fall Weekend

This weekend we had some beautiful weather in Hoboken, so I thought I'd share a couple of pictures that I took with my iPhone along the way. If you have an iPhone, I highly recommend downloading the Camera + ap... it has some really neat editing features: 

The sunset over Washington Street

Anthony taking in the view during a quick break on our Saturday run

And finally, on Sunday, I met my parents in the city for a little shopping date. My mom introduced me to Mariebelle, a delicious chocolate shop in SoHo. We each got two squares of chocolate: I went with hazelnut and toffee, and mom chose ginger and hazelnut. Although the pieces were a little pricey ($2.50 a piece) they were wonderfully rich and also had adorable, unique prints on top. I'd say it was worth the dough! 

Chocolate from Mariebelle