And Then We Went to Florida

The reason for my auntie first in this post is because we had been planning all year to visit our good friends and old neighbors, Matt and Jenn, in their new home in Sarasota, Florida! Jenn was turning 30 a few weeks ago so it was definitely reason to celebrate!

We're spoiled to have friends that live in such vacation-esque places. And spoiled to have such great friends. Our whole little group from West Chester was able to make it to FL for a fun little reunion weekend. Four days of friends, beach, sun and cocktails is always welcome in my book.

The boys went snorkeling, the girls had some much-needed girly time, Jenn threw one heck of a party (as always), we visited the aquraium and saw the biggest giant squid I've ever seen, got attacked by fish in the ocean, and laughed all weekend long.

We had so much fun, I'll leave the rest to the pictures (although they don't do the trip justice)...

The girls catching up while the boys are away

Coming in from a long day of snorkeling!
Guess who has burnt feet from walking on hot pavement...

How cute is he!!

Meliss!

I love how colorful this picture is!

The boys might have been forced into this one, but it turned out so good!

This took 6 tries, but turned out beautious!

And then there was a boat with speakers louder than my car. I kind of felt like we were partying with Jay-Z; except Jay-Z wasn't there...

They all left me to the man-eating fish!! I wish I was kidding, the fish in Florida I'm pretty sure are on crack; they jump out of the water at you and bite at your legs...It's so weird!

The girls ending the last day on a great note.

 

Adios, Florida!

WEEKEND

The weekend; the much-needed weekend. But goodbyes are starting, and that's tough.

We had a wonderful birthday/goodbye dinner at Pietros on Friday night. Complete with a champgane toast...(I have some awesome friends in my life!)

The girls
(Melissa, Heather, and Tiff)

We had a sleepover after dinner because we were waking up bright and early for the 92.5 XTU Anniversary Show.

I was suuuuuuper excited about this. Probably a little too excited. It's just a big free concert that the local country station puts on every year, but you have to win tickets and I've never won. Luckily, my last year in philly, Melissa won four tickets and I got to go!! So we got there early, had time to tailgate and hangout, then enjoyed the live music. My personal favorite? Chris Young. Oh yeah, he's good. We left before Miranda (the headliner), but that was fine by me, I didn't want to ruin the Chris-Young-goodness that played in my head on the ride home.

The girls at our cute little tailgate spot.

Our friends, AJ and Benny.





In honor of my Austinites...live music and PBR...nothin' like it.

Sunday it was back to packing all day. Sad stuff after such a great weekend. But it's getting down to the wire and I have to finish! Nine days and counting :)

LATELY...(via iPhone)

The garden has been out of control. It's slowing down now that it's dropping to the 40's at night, but I successfully made it through the summer without having to buy tomatoes, cucumbers, jalapenos, green peppers or basil.

I got a new car!
The Ford is still slowly giving out on me, by giving out on me I mean blowing through catalytic converters like they're cheap or something. After the third catalytic converter in 18 months failed, I decided it's time to invest in a new every-day car. The MINI! It's wonderful, like a go-kart for adults, and oh-so-cute. The Ford is still around, but strictly for hauling and camping because it sadly can't handle too much more. 



Best part? Although he wasn't able to make it to the test drive, Chubbs still fits!

 

Mica, being Mica.

Night out in Philadelphia for Heather's birthday! We hardly ever make it all the way into the city anymore because West Chester has so much going on, so it's nice to have an excuse to go every once in a while.

A visit with the almost-two-year-old (woah!) Nephew, Ryan. He is so much fun; we had a blast going to the zoo, playing in the founatin, getting ice cream, going swimming and just being silly together. He's such a cutie. 

Remebering 9.11

Fall is (un)officially here (I think 3 more days and it'll be official...)! But more importantly this also means my favorite beer, Oktoberfest, is available in our local brewery. The weather was beautiful so Pete and I checked out the Restaurant Festival in town on Sunday; the crowds were suffocating so we escaped into Iron Hill Brewery for a pint of Oktoberfest and a seasonal Sampler. The perfect Fall-ish Sunday afternoon :)

DINNER IN WC

With Pete

WC CHRISTMAS PARADE

As I've mentioned before I love West Chester. Even more, I am loving West Chester during the holidays. Reason #4837196? The Annual Old Fashioned Christmas Parade & Jingle Elf Run.

The night started off with appetizers and drinks at my house to warm up before braving the freezing cold, so we missed the Jingle Elf Run, but we bundled up and made it in perfect timing for the Parade. It was filled with Old Fashioned Cars, Fire Trucks, Marching Bands, and performers from all over; very West Chester-esque. AND I heard that Jason Castro was there for all you American Idol fans, but we missed him...I've never heard of him so I'm ok with that, except for the fact that he sang one of my favorite songs...you can catch it here.

Apparently my parents used to bring us to this same parade when we were little (I think I may have still been in the tummy!), so it was neat to re-visit it and be able to bring the next generation: Mackenzie :)

Burrrrrrr!

SANTA?!?

Nooooo, just Santa's cute little helper :)

Ghiradelli Peppermint Brownies...Recipe DEFINITELY to follow...SO GOOD.

"Mackenzie would like like a bite of GramE's brownie??"

Hahaha, she couldn't fit enough of it in her mouth!

GramE's face is priceless as she loses the better part of her brownie.

It doesn't look like it, but Chubbs loves dinner parties. I think it has something to do with all the attention he gets.

Kisses for the monkey.

Are we in Texas?!

Trying to stay toasty!

And my last picture of the night...a Rock n' Roll Christmas Pig?? Hah!

Happy Weekend!

LOVE MY NEW CITY

The new city I moved to, West Chester, is so cute and historic; it's filled with parks, restaurants, and fun little shops. We lived here when I was little, but you see things a bit differently when you're 24 vs 8. 

This past saturday I walked down the street for my first trip to the West Chester Grower's Market, a fresh farmer's market in the center of West Chester every saturday starting in May and lasting through November. 

I bought a whole bunch of fruits and veggies to make a veggie/hummus tray I for a BBQ saturday night. And now four days later I'm still enjoying the delicious vegs for dinner...mmmm mm.

Not to rush the summer or anything (because trust me, I'm taking in all the sun and heat I can before gearing up for the winter!) but I'm so excited about Fall here when all the local shops decorate for halloween/thanksgiving and the farmers market is filled with caramel apples, pumpkins and homemade cider.

If I've tempted you, I do have a guest bedroom now for visitors! hint, hint :)