Pictures Say a Thousand Words

Guesssss what day it is?  I'ts my friday!  Haha I got ya there didn't I?  You thought I was going to say hump day!

With attempting to write a speech, doing 5 loads of laundry, our power going out 10 times since Saturday, packing, last minute errands to get ready for NY life just gets in the way of my blogging.  I'm a huge whore, picture whore that is.  I love, love, love taking pictures to capture memories.  My bf's a trooper for always smiling when I snap the camera and I know it's not his favorite thing.  I never want to forget those memories because there is nothing better then looking back and being reminded of those moments.  I thought i'd share some favorite photos of mine that capture moments I never want to forget.

10 Pictures I am so glad were captured.  

This is the day that I met my nephew and I'll never forget the joy I had when I held him in my arms.  

Kissing my lil niece Kayleigh for the first time.

My grandmommy's name is Mary Mahoney and Philip and I ate at this jem in Mississippi.  She is my only living grandparent and I don't get to see her nearly enough but this reminded me of her and it just was super special.

One of my favorite pictures of My dad and I.  I was his "tough as nails" lil girl.

Just took this picture on 8/24/13 at a Wedding and it is by far one of my favorite pictures of us.

Codd Family Reunion/Olympics back in the day.  Just brings back so many memories.

This is my best friend Tori, we met in college and this couldn't have described our relationship more.  

The Sister and I holding hands.  Through the good and bad, through the tears and the laughs and to the girl who saw something in me other than just weird, I will be there for you always and forever.

Just living in the moment.  Always, always dancing!

Me and my girl Brit.  We met in Cape Cod during our families summer vacation and are still friends today.  This picture brings back so many memories.


I have to do a post like this again because it was so hard to pick just 10!
At this time tomorrow I will be back in my sweet lil hometime.  This means no time for blogging but I can't wait to share all of the stories when I get back next week because knowing my family there will be!  Peace out blog friends!

Punching that Sourpuss Mood Right Where it Hurts

I don’t know if it’s my hormones talking or the fact that I can’t wait to go home in 6 days but this week has just plan sucked.    I can’t tell you how many times this week I have cried over the most ridiculous things.  I literally think I have reached my quota in just this one week for the amount of times I can cry in a month.  I don’t know how my tears haven’t dried up.  I think this is my body telling me that I am ready for a vacation.   With this funk of a week I want to snap out of it being the weekend is just hours away.  Let me tell ya crying doesn't look on me so I'm punching that sourpuss face right where it hurts.  I decided I want to focus on the good things that are coming up in my life.

The Upcoming Good Things in My Life:

1.  This weekend I am going to the bf’s sister’s wedding.  Who doesn’t love going to a wedding?  It’s always nice and refreshing to see two people in love and get to be part of celebrating with them.   You can bet that I will be on the dance floor 90 percent of the time especially after a few too many adult beverages.  I like to make the beat drop, even if I can’t dance worth a damn! 

^ The last wedding I attended...I had too much fun!

2.  In T-6 days I will be back home in my small town in Upstate NY.  It will just be so good to be back in my roots.   So many great things are happening while I am home.  My 3 brothers will all be home and we haven’t all been together in such a long time.  See we live all over the states.  My oldest, Marty lives in West Virginia, My youngest, Liam lives in Indianapolis, and my middle brother Sean lives in Santa Barbara.  A really exciting part of the weekend is my Mom and her Partner are getting married.  I get to see my sistew Erin, which is always a blast since we don’t see each other nearly enough.  Maybe one of these days she will write a post about visiting Indiana. Hint Hint!  Just being back with family and friends is exactly what I need right now.  I also will be hitting up some wineries along Seneca Lake with good friends.  Wine + Friends + BF = One hellofa good time!

Rockin it in the 90's!  

Erin and Cait! 

The soon to be Newlyweds

Sistew and I last Christmas

3.  Philly’s other sister Mary, who lives in St. Thomas, yes be jealous because I am is coming up to visit when we get back from NY.  We are going to go to the Colts home opener on the 8^th.  I admit I’m not a sports fan, especially football but when it comes to actually going to a sporting event I can handle it and actually have fun.   This will be my first NFL experience so stay tuned for a follow up post on what I thought of it.

4.  September 22 is my 1 year Anniversary with the bf.   I can’t believe it has only been a year it has seriously seemed longer but I knew from the beginning that he was different than all the rest.  I still need ideas on a good gift to get the bf because I’ve never made it a year with anyone else so the gift thing is new to me.   

Our 3rd date but you wouldn't know it.   Got him tickets to Edward Sharpe.  We just clicked form the beginning.

5.  In October my Dad and his wife Dee will be making a visit to Indiana.  I don’t get to see them nearly as much as I like so it is always nice to have them come up from Florida when they can.  My dad is a great cook and I can’t wait to have some of his homemade goodies!

Last time they came into town!

6.  November involves another wedding with my girl Megan and her fiancé Eric.  They are such a great couple and I know that they are going to have one heck of a wedding.  They met a month before Philly and I on Match.com.  She was actually my inspiration to go on that site and I’m so glad I did.  Megan and I worked to together at my previous job and she was the only thing that kept me there as long as I did. 

The happy couple! 

7.  Christmas this year I will be skipping out on all the family traditions and instead I’ll be sipping on frozen drinks learning to paddle board in St. Thomas.  Yes it will be different not being back home with the family for the holidays but I think I’ll be just fine hanging in the sunshine with the bf’s family!  What’s also great is that I will be flying in a day early and will get to have dinner with my dad and Dee before I cruise out of this joint!  With my dad’s work schedule it’s a miracle that he will actually be home, so I will take full advantage of this opportunity. 

Megan's Bay in St. Thomas

8.  Two weeks after Christmas I will be heading back to the Caribbean but this time on a Cruise ship with the bf and my second family. Yes, aka Erin’s family.  We will be hitting up Princess’s private island, St. Thomas again, and then St. Marteen.  I booked my cruise before deciding on Christmas plans but you know what I am totally okay with being in the Caribbean for two weeks during the cold winter.

Havin a shot at Grassroots with Erin's Dad

My second family minus Chris, Erins sister

Having way too much fun on our cruise 2 years ago! 

Rum punch was involved here!

I feel a bazillion times better just remembering all the great things coming my way.  I truly am blessed to have such an amazing bf in my life that likes to get out and do things and also have such kickass friends and family.  Has anyone else been in a funk lately and what helps to get you out of the sourpuss mood?  I hope everyone else has some fun things coming your way and enjoy your weekend.  I don’t know if you know this but Friday is my second favorite F word!  Ohhhh bye! 

Green Eyed and Flawed

I'm new to the whole blog world and there is a whole lattta stuff about me that you don't know. But I'll be honest I sometimes feel awkward talking about myself but other times I like it, really depends on how chatty I am and how much I have had to drink. 

1:  I’m organized not clean.  So yes, clothes are skewed everywhere, especially when I’m heading out on a date night or going out (which doesn’t happen much these days). I try on 10 different things and god forbid I put them back.  So they will continue to sit there ohh for a good week or two till I decide I can’t take the madness or my bf makes a comment about clothes being everywhere.  If you look at my closest though, everything is color coordinated by sleeve length, dresses, and pants.  Some might call this OCD but I don’t know if I would go that far.  

2.  I’m a lister.  Every day I write a list of things I need to accomplish.  It just feels good to cross something off, like I actually did something.  Writing down also just helps me remember what it is that I need to actually do.  You would think I would use my i-phone for that but nope.  I find lists and things all over my car, house, and at work.  What ends up happening is I leave the list somewhere and then I have to write another.  I keep the post-it notes in business, that’s for sure.  My list for today is far too long and its times like this that I wish there was more time in the day. 

3.  Green is my color of choice.  I have loved the color green for as long as I can remember.  The shades have changed but I just can’t get enough of it.  One of these days I will have a green front door because it will just simply make me the happiest lil thing ever!  I don’t wear green as often as I would like but I can totally picture it all over my house, but not in an over powering/dominating way, just subtle splashes here and there.  Plus my eyes are hazel so I am somewhat partial to green.

4.  My grammar sucks.  I think I was too busy doodling or writing notes when I should have been learning about grammar in school.  So if you’re pulling your hair out at some of my posts because commas are in the totally wrong spot or I used the wrong there/their,  you are now warned.  I’m flawed.  

5.  I'm very indecisive, I think....  Quite frankly my indecisive drives me bonkers, I feel like the cartoon that used to be on way back when we were kids.  Haha I don't think I am old enough to say that but sometimes I feel it.  Back to my indecisiveness, going out to eat is the worst.  If its a new place that I have never been, omg I will read the menu over and over.  My thoughts go over the place.   "Should I get that, it sounds so good but I could probably make this at home" or "I should get something healthy, ahh fuck that YOLO".  fjkdlsa jfkldsajfkld;sa Then the server comes up and I'm like ah ahh umm and then just pick something that I never even though about.  Sometimes it works in my favor sometimes I'm not happy with the rash decision I made. The first step is that you admit it and I know that this is a flaw of mine and something that I am trying to work on.  I like to think that I am much better, thanks to the help of the bf.  I took so long once that he actually ordered without me.  I don't blame him because I think It took me a good 30 minutes to look over the menu before finally deciding.  Thats kinda when I realized that this kid isn't messing around when it comes to eating so I better make up my mind.  

Whelp time for me to head to bed my days have been going so slow and if I don't get my lil booty to bed soon I'll be that chick asleep at her desk that everyone makes fun of.  I already get picked on enough because I"m a quote liberal from ny end quote.  Sweet dreams oh and as my dad always says, "Don't let the bed bugs bite".

   

Trying to Conquer My Fears and Other Random Things

I’ve got a lot on my mind these days and I’m a total random person, so why not blog about it.  For one I had a Debbie downer dream last night that the doctor thought I had cancer and needed a sample of my bone.  It was totally bazaaro because the doctor couldn’t seem to knock me out with the medicine and I was lying there and my whole body felt just weird and kind of painful.  So the doctor in the dream gave me more medicine to knock me out, which I was for a while and then I woke up, no doctor insight and my stomach was cut in half. I’m talking like all the way through, this crazy doctor is going to leave me with a big ol' scar and second how am I still alive?  Meanwhile I was taking pictures of my insides with my I-Phone. Then that’s when I saw the “cancer” and I woke up, I’m telling you it was a cray cray.  What the heck does this dream mean?  Do I need to go to the doctors and tell them that I have cancer?

Something you should know about me is that I am terrified of speaking in front of people.  It's totally weird to me because I am really not a shy person at all and through life experiences and growing I've learned not to care what others think of me.  I am who I am and if you don't like me, it's okay.

I think you can guess whats going on here ;)

But when it comes to speaking in front of an audience forget about it.  I don't  think it has anything to do with what people think of me but just for some reason I shut down and turn into this completely different person. I hate it.  I can recall back to 9th grade in my Honors English class, we had to give our first book report.  It was my turn to go up to the podium and share my thoughts on the book.  Instead of doing that, I turned as red as a cooked lobster and laughed for 5 minutes straight and walked out of the classroom.  Eventually I came back in and was literally shaking the entire time and rushed to get through it.  I don't know why I work myself up so much.  I often make myself sick over it, its to the point that its ridiculous.  I just dread doing it, I really don't know how I survived through college in my major because I had to give a butt load of presentations.

I want to conquer my fears, which is why on my list of 101 Days in 1001 list,  number 92 is to give a toast. Now I didn't expect to give a toast for a while because my best friend, Kristen isn't getting married for like another year or two.  So I figured I would have plenty of time to work up the courage and spend like a year on writing the speech.  That all changed because a 2 months ago my Mom announced that she was going to get married to her partner of 12 years, which this is a whole other post.  She of course asked me to stand in for her and I couldn't be more honored to.  I am super stoked about  it and I am beyond happy for my mother and her partner.  But after the whole excitement set in I realized that I was going to have to give a toast, holy crap balls!!! womp womp womp.

Its T-13 days away and I have yet to put anything together.  It needs to happen this week!  I'm stressing out hard core, i'm sweating just thinking about it. I'm new to the whole toast thing as well, this will be my first experience. HELP! PLEASE! :)  If you have any advice, recently have given a speech, have some ideas, tips, helpful advice, encouragement send it my way! :)

This weekend wasn't crazy or anything but I'll give you a quick weekend recap.  You know your getting domesticated when you and your bf spend your Friday night deep cleaning the carpets.  It had to happen though, with two dogs and one who gets scared when it thunderstorms and decides that the only good place to pee is on one of the three carpets that we have.  I was totally sick of the house smelling like urination, its not a good smell.  Saturday my brother and his family came up to my house for a few hours. They live a few hours away and they finally got to come check out where I live.  We ate, napped and went to the playground.  I love any opportunity to get to hang out with my niece and nephew, they are just simply growing up way too fast! Sunday consisted of laying out and watching hours and hours of Sopranos! Oh yea and I attempted to start a cleanse but that lasted about 2 hours so no go on that one.  I love food too much! My power cord finally arrived so hopefully I will be more consistent with my blogging now, hallelujah! To end on a happy note my bestie, Hayley got engaged on top of a mountain in Upstate NY and I could not be more ecstatic for the two of them to start the next chapter of there lives.

Sunbathing pup!

Yes, he is reading directions!  :)

Niece playing in the dog kennel

She found my shower cap! 

Bourbon Up!

Okay, yes its Monday and I am just getting around to sharing about last, last weekend.  You know with the whole no power cord to the computer thing really makes it difficult to blog.  But I just ordered a new one so hopefully I will be back in business at the end of the week!  Anyways, I’m excited because I got to check off another item on my list.  When I get to cross something off my list it makes me feel all happy and giddy like a dog sticking its head out the car window.  Yes, I might be puppy obsessed right now, but who doesn't love dogs?  If you don’t then there is seriously something wrong with you and we can’t be friends.  And I’m totally getting off the radar.

I’m sure you are peeing your pants right at this very moment because you are just dying to find out what I crossed off my list!  Okay, maybe its not that exciting and I’m sure you already know by the title of this post.  Yes, I went to the State of Kentucky where 95% of the world’s bourbon is made, Number 26 on my 101 Things in 1001 Days List.  Friday night the bf and I drove after work to Louisville, which is always fun because we jam out pretty hard in the car!  I tried to get a video but he wasn't into that whole thing.

Friday Night

We arrived in downtown Louisville at the Galt House, drove around for about 15 minutes looking for a parking spot in the garage.  It was the shortest garage I've ever seen!  We booked our hotel through orbitz because i'm all about those orbit bucks.  The hotel upgraded us to a suite fo' FREE.  Which was awesome until I walked into the room and saw that there was not 1 King size bed but rather 2 double beds.  I was ticked off and didn't feel like bothering with going back down and sweet talking the front desk so you know what we did?  We slept in separate beds and I totally felt like I was back in HS or something.  Not that I had any guys sleeping over while I was in HS but still. After a quick wardrobe change the bf and I walked to Whisky Row which was just a few blocks from our hotel.  We ended up at this new bar/restaurant that had upscale burgers and live music. The place had really good burgers and actually thats all they pretty much had, I even caved and got some white truffle fries and they were aaaamazingg!  I actually think I was drooling, they were that good.  We stayed for a awhile and listened to some live music and my Little from my sorority came to meet up with us.  I haven't seen her in forever so it was good to be reunited because we had some fun times in college.  She is super goofy just like I am, she is just overall a super awesome person.  She recently moved from Boston to Louisville for Law School, i'm such a proud Big! :)

Friday Night at Side Bar!

Throwing it back:  Little and I in College!

Saturday

I wasn't excited about my alarm clock going off at 7 am but I was excited for the days activities. This is the day I realized that I hate bourbon.  Which was unfortunate because the whole day was revolved around drinking bourbon.  I was a champ and sucked it down anyways but if I had it my way I wouldn't drink bourbon "neat" ever again.  We met with our group at 8:30, we decided to do one of the tour buses called Mint Julep Tours (Which I highly recommend), instead of drunk driving, I know smart decision.  We stopped at three different distilleries, Makers Mark, Barton 1792, and Jim Beam.  We did  a tour and a tasting at both Makers Mark and Barton 1792 and just a tasting at Jim Beam.  It was actually pretty fascinating to learn all about the process of making bourbon and the history.  

  Makers Mark

Hand dipping the wax top!

Barton 1792

Barton's does bottle labeling too in addition to making bourbon.  I was so tempted to grab one of those Svedka Orange Sherbets because I have yet to try one!

Jim Beam

The weather couldn't have been better, we really lucked out because it had called for rain.  Yes if you are wondering if that guy is carrying a ball you are correct.  There was another group that we ran into and it was a bachelor party, they made the bachelor carry a ball and chain.  I thought it was pretty humorous and I know it was just a joke but I also thought to myself well jezz, if this guy isn't even married yet and thinks that negatively about marriage then my guess is this guy isn't going to be married for too long.  

Although I'm not Bourbon's Number 1 fan I did have an amazing day with the bf.  We met a fun group of people, one was even a discus Olympic Athlete, he was a big dude, like the kind where he is so jacked that he can't scratch his own ass.  I personally don't know who would want to be that muscular.  It is not attractive by any means, actually I find it repulsive, not into that whole I look like a Hulk thing.  I learned all there is to know about bourbon and the history of Kentucky.  I didn't get as nearly as drunk as I thought I would, which is a win in my book. Although I did get a buzz, which is just the right amount and the one liners are just'a flowin.

Site seeing downtown after our tour.

Phil and all his new bourbon!

Saturday Night we met back up with my Little Christine and her bf Dan, which was my first time meeting him and I approve!  We went to this Restaurant called Game and they have a bunch of burgers made from all different meats like Waygu, Kangaroo, Elk, Venison, Wild Boar, Lamb, Duck, Salmon, and Antelope.  I had the Venison and Phil had the Wild Boar.  I seriously never eat burgers and for some reason I was craving burgers because thats all I ate for the most part while I was there.  We ended the night at the Troll Pup where a bunch of 50 year olds were celebrating.   It was seriously the funniest, between 8 of them they got 4 different Fish Bowls.  They kept apologizing for being drunk and saying they were celebrating there 50th, it was too cute.

Venison Burger from the Restaurant Game!

Sunday

Our last day we went and had breakfast, just the two of us and drove around Old Louisville to look at all the big brick homes.  It was a much needed mini gateway for the both of us. Although Phil and I live together and see one another all the time, I think it is really important in a relationship to getaway together and spend time outside of the normal routine of things.  It is a trip I will never forget, that is for sure! Plus, I can finally check off another item on my list! Wahoo!