Spring Break: Part II

Ya, ya I know I already had my spring break fun... but that didn't stop me from taking full advantage of Andrew's week off too :) We headed down to Panama City Beach (thanks to my awesome bosses who let us use their beautiful beachfront condo for a ridiculous deal - thank you, thank you!) for a mini getaway with some friends. Thankfully the weather cooperated and we had 4 days of warm temperatures and sunshine!!!

Condo building

View looking down from our balcony on the tippy top!

My guy :)

 Our goal was not to spend too much $$$ this trip, so we were sure to put the full kitchen in the condo to use - we cooked breakfasts, lunches and even a couple dinners! Being a short 5 hour drive from the ocean also kept our costs way down, which was nice! The chiropractic school boys definitely earned their break... they had a miserable week of finals prior to their week off and were sooo ready to kick back and relax!

Future Dr.'s working on their tans

Hangin' in the pool w/ their girls (sans me)

I, on the other hand, was missing school and work so I was stressin' just a little about staying caught up! Thankfully, I had a fantastic balcony to sit on and get a little (by little... I mean, hardly any) reading done. But there was much too much fun to be had to worry about the classes I was missing and the reading I'd have to do once we got back home. So I pretty much gave up and then paid for it later in the week!

A little self-timer action...

Sunset from the roof deck

Games on the roof!

Where I read ~2 pages...

We got back late Tuesday... I played catch-up/went to class Wednesday... had class all day Thursday...

...and what do you know? Tomorrow is already Friday! I could get used to short weeks like this ;)

There won't be too many more opportunities where we can just zip down to the beach for a few days and spend time lazing in the sun, goofing around with our friends. Soon there will be moving back to Ohio, and real jobs and responsibilities like a house and a yard... and eventually there will be kids. So we are thankful for these chances to get away for some carefree fun! I'm sure that memories like these will be ones that we look back on and smile about for years to come.

Back to reality. With a tan :)

WIWW - First Ever Edition!

Ok, so several of my blogger friends link up to "What I Wore Wednesday" over at The Pleated Poppy so this week I thought I'd give it a whirl... and now that I (finally) have an iPhone, I can snap a quick picture of my outfits a few times a week without too much hassle.

Here is my first WIWW attempt! The pictures are pretty poor quality, and the mirrors - and backgrounds - could use some improvement! Mayyybe I'll work on this for next week...

Rehearsal dinner outfit... in the hotel before heading to Laguna Beach

Tank: Nordstrom Rack

Skirt: J.Crew sale rack

Shoes: Jessica Simpson (from Marshall's)

Necklace and bracelets: F21

Wedding/reception outfit! In a (different) messy hotel room...

Dress: Banana Republic

Shoes: Zigi Soho Staple Pumps from DSW 

Necklace: F21

Work/class day outfit 

Shirt dress: Banana Republic Outlet

Flats: Tory Burch Reva Flat

Bracelet: Pandora charm bracelet from the husb

I know, I know. This post is totally lame!!! But I just wanted to give WIWW a try, and if I like it I'll see if I can get better about it in the next couple of weeks. We'll see :)

I'm an artist!

Sort of.

A couple of girlfriends and I went to a "Cocktails and Canvas" painting class a couple of weeks back. They basically hold your hand through the entire process - step by step instructions, a demo at the front of the room, etc. - and you can get as creative (or not) as you want with veering off their color and design path...

We were newbies, so let's just say we followed directions very carefully! We came equipped with beer and wine, but of course used one of the 20-minute "let the paint dry breaks" to run next door and get some delish frozen yogurt :) This was originally a GNI idea, but not many people had bought the coupon we used so it ended up just being three of us - which was actually a perfect number for their table set-ups - and we made the most of our mini-GNI!

Ready to get started!

Girls posing in their smocks

Cheers!

The cute studio

Mmmm

So, in hindsight I wish I had taken some more creative liberties with the design and the colors. The bright, cheerful color palette in the demo painting doesn't match a single room in my house! (But I did hang my masterpiece in the office nonetheless -- Andrew insisted, I swear!) Some of the more experienced Cocktails and Canvas-ers totally changed the colors to match their taste and I will totally do that next time. Yes, next time. I had so much fun with Sheila and Natalie... and while we were there we saw a group of girls celebrating a birthday (gifts, cupcakes and all!) at the studio. Fun idea, huh?

Hard at work...

Sheila putting on the finishing touches

Hair drying her canvas haha

Finished!!!

It was nice to expend a little creative energy and unwind with a few drinks and some silly girl talk ~  and a nice change of pace from my weekly routine and typical girls nights settings. It was also fun(ny) to see Andrew's reaction to my artwork haha... he was so impressed! Or at least he feigned excitement over my creation. Either way, it was cute! And he insisted that it be displayed in our house. Hence, the hanging in the office. Tucked away behind the door ;)

Voila! The first piece of "custom artwork" in my home.

Visitors and Vacas

Mother nature decided to be less than cooperative for my sister's spring break visit. It was 70ish and sunny the weekend before her arrival, and there is nothing but warmth and sunshine in the forecast for the week after she left. Mean trick, huh? But we made the most of our cold, rainy week together! Our sched went something like this: sleep. shop. eat. shop. eat. drink wine(/margs/martinis). sleep. shop. repeat.

yum.

fattys.

sushiii.

how cute is he?

Mexican.

Hubbs was a trooper. Despite a busy busy week of lab finals he still managed to squeeze in nightly dinner dates w/ us and a few social drinks here and there. So my sis didn't leave with the spring break glow we had anticipated... but she did lug home an extra-full suitcase of new clothes and shoes! Not a total loss.

The morning she left to head back to Ohio, I hopped on a plane to Orange County to meet my mama for a long weekend of (we hoped) sun and my very first friend's wedding! I was so looking forward to some quality time with my mom and a much needed tan....... I got them both!

Laguna Beach sunset

Rehearsal dinner w/ my madre

Beautiful wedding venue

The gorg newlyweds!

Married :)

Reception

Friends since 1987

I'm so glad I was able to go out to this wedding! Heather was the first friend I ever had. In my whole life! We "met" when I moved to Cali at 6 months old. Her mama watched me when my mom went back to work part-time. I grew up calling her my "Big Sister" because I never had one. We were pen pals when I moved back to Ohio, and signed every picture or letter with "Love, Your Little Sis." We got to call each other every year on our birthdays (aka: pre-cell phones, free night/weekend "minutes" and email...). We kept in touch, and so did our moms, even when my family moved to Indonesia. Obviously Facebook and the internet have made staying connected in recent years a much easier feat - but how cool that we have managed to remain a part of each others' lives for 24 years?! From diapers and big wheels... to white dresses and wedding rings.

Monday night = back to reality. It was rough getting back into the swing of school/work after a week away with a couple of my fave ladies! The 3 hour West Coast time diff and daylight savings didn't help matters. But I (sort of) managed. I was missing my hubbs and kitty anyway... 4 days away from them feels like forever! We have a FL trip planned for next month and some serious sunshine in our weekend forecast ~ much to still look forward to even after the excitement of a fabulous spring break week!

**Please excuse the mess!**

My little blog is under construction...

In an attempt to make our online presence a little more "private" I'm going through the process of redacting our last name from the blog title, URL and (eventually) older posts. So it will probably look disastrous around here for a few days... but I plan to have everything sorted out by next week!

For those of you who have been following since the beginning - I trust ya! But just going forward, I would like to remain on a first-name basis w/ new readers and followers :) Right now, I have no big concerns! Down the line though, as we become doctors and lawyers and parents....... {sounds so adult} I think it is best that my blog not reveal too much identifying information!

So, please hang w/ me for a few days of ugly mismatched colors and off-center headers! I have no clue what I am doing, but thanks to Sheila I think I will be back in cute, tidy blog land in no time. I'll save my spring break week photos for next week when this thing isn't such an eye sore!!

Spring Breakkk!

I'm still enjoying it, so don't get all excited for a long detailed post! But here are a couple of iPhone pics that give you a glimpse into my week off thus far:

Got some pretty tulips in preparation for my sissy's arrival!

Had a fun sushi date w/ sister and hubbs.

Loaded up on (and chowed down on) all the essentials: Guac, hummus, wine and Sweetwater Blue :)

Got mani/pedis with some spring-y Shellac colors (ignore pale, chubby hands...).

Shopped til we dropped. And found/bought/fell in love with these wedges! Thank you, J. Simpson.

Bella has kept busy attacking and eating my flowers. And occasionally cuddling w/ her auntie.

For now, we are back to the shopping and eating, then I'm leaving for Cali tomorrow morning w/ my mama! So far, fun week!!! Not as much sun as we had hoped for, but we are making the most of our sister time... and hopefully I'll catch a few rays on the west coast this weekend :)

I'm trying to be a good picture-taker, but its not my forte. More to come next week though, promise!

Happy Bday Hubby!

Now that its officially March, I thought it would be appropriate to finally recap my poor little hubbs' birthday festivities! He is so neglected. Not. More like so spoiled! And deservedly so :) We have birthday weeks around our house, and his 24th was no exception! He didn't have to lift a finger... I cleaned the whole apartment before the weekend, stocked up on all of his favorite food/drinks, and catered to him hand and foot! {And you best believe fingers crossed, he'll be returning the favor in April!}

Bday din

While it was a weekend-long celebration of his precious life, we did the big "birthday dinner" on Saturday (before his Monday birthday) at Ray's on the River. We got dolled up and wined and dined in the dimly lit fancy-pants seafood restaurant, and both of us left just raving about the food and the service! Definitely added it to our short list of special occasion restaurants!

Andrew's cake request? OREO CHEESECAKE!

Andrew was in the middle of midterms the weekend of his birthday, so instead of a night out with friends, he wanted a quiet, relaxing weekend in. Fine by me! Unfortunately, that meant that this massive Oreo Cheesecake didn't get devoured as quickly as most of my other confections... it was a delish end to our Saturday celebration, but I found myself sneaking a spoonful (or 2. ok 3.) every time I opened the refrigerator throughout the next week! The extra jiggle in my behind will be a lovely reminder of his special birthday dessert for months to come......

Since my healthy hubbs never, ever eats sweets, I was shocked when he actually requested this as his birthday cake! How do I say no to that?! If I was surprised at the request, then I was floored at the sight of him actually eating his OWN piece! Normally our dessert-eating goes something like this:

Me: Want to share dessert?

Andrew: Sure.

Me: Ok (!!!!!), what sounds good??

Andrew: Eh. Whatever you want babe.

Me: (to waiter)"We'll have the red velvet cheesecake please!" "Could we please split the creme brulee?"

**Dessert arrives**

Andrew: [takes one little weenie bite]

Me: [eats the whole dang thing..... fml]

Needless to say, I was beyond thrilled that the birthday boy not only ate a piece of cake, but (allegedly) enjoyed it! It wasn't the cake I had originally planned to make, but there will be other occasions to test my confection concocting talents... I'm just glad I finally could whip up a cake he would eat!

After a fabulous dinner and my made-with-love dessert, I showered my hubbs with gifts! Jeans (of his choosing), a grill basket for fish/veggies, an OU alumni license plate holder, sneakers, books and gift cards were among his bday loot - some from me, some from our wonderful parents!

The rest of the weekend was less noteworthy. I made a big breakfast Sunday, we lounged around in the morning, and then spent the afternoon/evening studying in the same general vicinity of each other. Very romantic haha. Then on Monday, his actual birthday, despite hubbs having some big important test the next day, we squeezed in an early sushi dinner date (Vday+Bday) at our favorite little spot, followed by... more cake, what else?! Bella got her dad a card - such a thoughtful little feline. I think it said something along the lines of "Hope your day is purrrrfect!" Then she proceeded to attack my mittens for the remainder of the evening.

Bella Bad Girl

She knows she's busted...

Some year - preferably before we hit 30 - we hope to spend a birthday uninterrupted by schoolwork and studying. Until then... we'll stick with early dinners, all the cake we can get our hands on, and homeworking with the Bachelor on in the background! Andrew told me that his 24th was his best birthday ever! And that, my friends, is all that really matters!

My job here is done :) Until next year.