What does Jason Mraz have in common with 8 high school girls?

Really not that much, but this weekend, I got to spend the weekend with 8 high school girls while singing some Jason Mraz.  I am a little more partial to "Geek in the Pink" but I love the way the Ukulele sounds with "I'm Yours!"  I hope you enjoy the quick tune as much as I enjoyed hearing it this weekend:

Countdown until Summer...

I am done with February and snow and ice and cold weather.  I am ready for summer and in the spirit of the warmth, sun, fun, and margaritas poolside, last night CJ and I picked up this little gem:

Look how many people can fit in that sucker!

Feel free to be jealous, I would be too if I were you!  Pool passes will be on sale starting in late April :)

Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious...

...even though the sound of it is something quite atrocious, if you say it loud enough you'll always sound precocious, supercalifragilisticexpialidocious!

Well now that I have that song stuck in your head, allow me to share what I did last night!  My friend, Anna, CJ, and I all went out to a quick dinner at Carytown Burgers and Fries before heading onto Richmond's Landmark Theater for the Mary Poppin's play.

The stage.

CJ and Anna before the show started!

Step In Time number.  Do not be fooled by how far away it looks, we were in the 5th row, center, so we actually had pretty amazing seats!

The play was not very in sync with the movie, which was quite sad.  I love the movie, so I felt there were a few missed opportunities where they could have done better.  But I have heard from a few people that the play is sort of a mix of the book and the movie, I just did not know that going into it, so my expectations were up higher than they should have been.  The most awesome scene in the movie--the dancing penguins  was totally left out and instead they had statues that came to life and started dancing around. That is just one example of many!

At any rate, I enjoyed spending time with the girls and am looking forward to Les Miserables next month (I just wish I had not seen that movie now too!)

100 Bucks!

Corbin was quite amused by this card Tiffany got for her birthday!

Enjoy!

Cuteness Overload!

Well this past week was my sister's birthday, she is a Valentine's Eve baby!  So my mom and I drove up to Norfolk this weekend to celebrate with her (the dad and brother came up for a few hours in the afternoon).  Unfortunately, I got ZERO pictures of the birthday girl, but alas, I captured a ton of the cutie pie, Corbin!

Corbin thorough intrigued by the guitar his Uncle Andy gave to him!

Cheesin'

Saturday night, my sister and brother in law, went out to dinner and spent the night out, so my mom and I were on Corbin duty.  The rule was that if he stayed in his bed all night long, he got Mickey Mouse Chocolate Chip pancakes...well guess who was a good boy?

Who does not love Chocolate first thing in the morning!

Breakfast on Gaga's lap!

YUM!

Gaga even got her own Mickey Mouse pancake!

Corbin and Gaga!

Rockin' out in the morning! (bonus: picture of Stella in the background!)

Corbin with Auntie LaLa!

Always get some cute pictures when that kid is involved!  I cannot wait to see them again soon :)

Where is the Love?

Apparently, in my life, it is all around me!  I love celebrating Valentine's Day, yes I am single, and no that does mean I am going to hate this holiday.  Love goes so much deeper than relationship status.  Love is all around--it is in our family, friends, and community.  Who did you show love to this week?

One of my top ten favorite verses in the bible is definitely 1 Corinthians 13:4-7:

"Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

What a beautiful picture that teaches me about how I should love, and what better day of the year to be reminded of such a love than on Valentine's Day.  I have always been a proud sponsor of the reds, pinks, and purples.  I love greeting friends with hugs and smiles.  I love showing my love through small little gifts, that remind people that I am thinking about them.  And I have amazing friends that know my love language too.  I got spoiled this Valentine's day!

The Red Target Weekender watch.  I have been eyeing this sucker for months now and my sweet friend, Kathryn got it for me--in red nonetheless!

Always speaking my love language, I came home from Lifegroup to find my FAVORITE flower (gerber daisies) in pink on my porch from my dear friend, CJ!  (They have found a home next to the other flowers I got from her like 3 weeks ago that are still going strong)

And an adorable card from my bestie, Anna!

A cute card from my friend Heather, with her new dog as a Heart :)

A sweet card from my friend, Amanda!

My friend, Sara, brought this with some Berger cookies when she visited the weekend before!

What a way to end this holiday!  I feel loved each and every day by my amazing friends and family!  I hope the same for each and every one of you!

Words of Affirmation

Although it is not in the top three of my love languages, it still feels good to get some every once in awhile:

This is a post-it note, I got from a client today, she mailed it back with something else I had mailed to her!

I am thinking about just sticking this post-it to my Boss' (Bill) desk, so he can be reminded daily!  A bit too aggressive?   Probably!

Fat Tuesday!

All seasons of Lent should start with such a great party!  My friend, Lila decided to throw a Mardi Gras Potluck party on a Tuesday.  What is not love?  I sported my best purple sweater and borrowed a pair of green beads for the occasion!  It was a grand time of food, friends, and fun, not to mention an awesome King Cake!

Lila made a wonderful King Cake for the occasion--it was super Yummy!

Hurricanes!!!

Party!

Me and Lila, I lent her my Mardi Gras masks straight from New Orleans for the party!

Theme dinnerware--LOVE IT!

We found the baby, but Dave had already called that piece!

Dave was so happy to get the baby!

Maybe I should have made a goal to give up sweets or something for Lent, because it literally was a Fat Tuesday, on my weekly weigh in, I was up 2.5 pounds--no good!  Time to get back on track and move forward, got to meet my goal weight by August!

BFFs

So back when we went to New York, my friend, Sara was supposed to come with us, but she got sick.  So since it has been so long since we have seen each other AND since she had not seen my new place, she came down to Richmond for a short weekend!

Besties for almost 12 years now!!! This was at our first bar of the night!

Lila, Sara, and Kathryn at our 2nd bar of the night

CJ, me, and Patrick

On Saturday we took it easy and went to have lunch with the Bons and the doggies!  Brutus was so happy to see Sara!

Then we went to Target, where they were having a sale on pink watches!  Sara obviously scored one of those

Who can resist a redskins hat??

All in all, it was great fun!  We hit up 3 different bars on Friday night and stayed out late, which we made up for on Saturday by being lazy, chatting, and getting in bed by 10:30.  It was a fantastic weekend, fun times catching up, eating Berger cookies, and just enjoying each others company.  Now I just need to find her a job in Richmond so she can move down here permanently.

It is February...

...and we all know what that means....LOVE IS IN THE AIR!  It is the one time a year I can flaunt my pink, red and purple and feel extra good about it!  Chocolate, flowers, and Valentine's...all TOTALLY acceptable!  Thus, I introduce, my top 5 favorite things about February!

Heart Shaped Candies!

Red Nails are totally acceptable, if not encouraged!

The color pink is EVERYWHERE...and it is, after all, my favorite color!

Baked Goods!

And flowers, flowers everywhere!

There you have it!  Who says you have to be in love to love Valentine's Day?  I think more single women should embrace it!  And keep a look out for your mailbox, you might be getting a Valentine from me!!!

Margaritas, Argo, and the Ravens

That about sums up my weekend-O-fun!  I got off work on Friday and went to pick up a certified letter from my leasing office.  I read the letter and freaked out because I thought it was saying I had to move out in 60 days as they were planning to sell my house.  I was thoroughly upset and dreading the prospect of moving yet again and so soon after I just  moved.  So I did what any sane person would do, grabbed my friend and went to drown my sorrows in margaritas!  Wait did I say margaritas?  I meant MARGARITA--just one--and a small at that!  I was feeling way better after just 3 tiny little sips.  CJ got the medium and was not even able to finish the whole thing, they were just that well made!

You see where my priorities were!

The palm tree was wrapped in this plastic that made it look like aluminium foil, it made my slightly intoxicated self laugh!

After dinner, we went to Target to walk around for a bit--who does not love a Target run?  Then I left CJ and headed over to get some one-on-one time with my friend, Anna!  It was a good night and I was even in bed before midnight!

Saturday morning I got to sleep in before heading to the south side to get my mom so I could hang out with her while my car got inspected.  We did a little Thrift Store shopping and grabbed lunch at the new Kroger Marketplace with my dad.  I left the mom's and went to catch up with my friend, Lila.  She had invited CJ and I over to have a girls afternoon complete with wine, manicures, and chick flicks while she was getting ready for a wedding she had to go to that evening.  As I was opting out of the alcohol, I got a Shirley Temple, complete with TWO cherries!

After Lila's, I went home to get ready for the night.  A bunch of friends were meeting up to go see the movie, Argo, at The Byrd Theater.  We grabbed some dinner then got in line for the movie--it was AWESOME!  Afterward, we meet up with a bunch of law students (maybe like 10+) at a local bar for drinks and dancing before calling it a night!

Sunday was full of time to relax, I hit up church in the morning, then the grocery store, did some laundry, and cooked dinner for the Superbowl, all while getting some down time and watching some TV...it was fantastic!  I watched most of the Superbowl with some girlfriends (let's be honest, when Downton Abbey came on, the Superbowl was over for all of us) and enjoyed a meal of Chicken taco burrito bowls :)

All in all, a fantastic weekend!  Oh and that letter, after further reading, it was giving me 60 days notice that they were not renewing my lease so I still have until the end of May to find a place to live!

What happened to the reading?

No, No, I have not stopped reading all together.  But since I have more direct goals this year, the reading has definitely taken a backseat.  I am still taking suggestions and plan to read a few books this year, including but not limited to:

1. Because I said So (current read)
2. James Patterson's Private London
3. My Series 65 exam study book (this is really thick and needs to be learned forward and backward, so it is probably worth like 10 books at least)
4. Gone Girl

And whatever books I get recommended and deem worthy of a read.

As I said, my current book is called "Because I Said So," it is by Ken Jennings (of Jeopardy fame).  It is a book where he takes normal myths and proves them true or false, with a humor twist.  I am loving it so much and already feel smarter:
* Ginger Ale and other sodas should not be used on an upset stomach
* Hydrogen Peroxide and Rubbing Alcohol should never be put on an open cut
* There is no such things as "growing pains"
* Cuts do not need to be exposed to open air to heal, in fact they heal better under a band aid.
* Poinsettia leaves are not actually toxic to people or animals
* No such chemical exists that changes the color of the pool if you pee in it
* You are actually perfect safe in a pool during a thunderstorm if that pool is indoors.
* Never once has there ever been any documented cases of Halloween candy actually having poison in it

And other such myths.  I am enjoying the easy read of this book and will likely recommend it onto others!  Plus what is not to love about this cover?

Musical Corbin

As promised, here is a short video of my nephew and his great sense of rhythm:

Corbin

Ohhh remember how I said that I like to spend 'Quality Time with my nephew' in the post right before this one?  Well speaking of that, let's talk about how cute he is....

Cute! Totally even cuter than bunnies!

Loving on Gaga's waffles!

Just trying to be cute without trying!

Looking at the sky (through the skylight) with Gaga!

Hydration is the key to happiness....

Corbin's philosophy on life--why wear clothes when you can just cuddle up in a robe?

Auntie Lala, please stop trying to take pictures of me while we watch Yo Gabba Gabba!

Cuddle time with Gaga!

He is certainly one little cutie patootie!  If I can ever get my act together, there *may* be a video to follow!