Dinners and Pumpkins!

What a wonderful weekend! 

Saturday, we ran a few errands, cleaned the apartment, and then went to La Stalla in Newtown, PA for C's birthday dinner. We were a little worried because everyone was at least 15 min late, but once they all got there, we had a great time. The food was amazing, the wine was flowing, and many laughs were had.

bday dinner crew

On Sunday, we wanted to go pumpkin picking. Except, we got a little lost! But we did find Princeton Battlefield State Park in Princeton Township, NJ. We saw the Mercer Oak, which was named after Hugh Mercer, a brigadier general in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. During the Battle of Princeton, Mercer was stabbed by an English soldier's bayonet. According to legend, he was unwilling to abandon his troops, and rested on the tree's trunk while they stood their ground. After the battle, Mercer was taken to the Clarke House where he died from his injuries nine days later. (Thanks Wikipedia)

In front of The Clarke House

The "new" Mercer Oak

The tree was about 300 years old when it was torn by strong winds in March 2000. In May 2000, an 8-foot sapling grown from a Mercer Oak acorn was planted inside the stump of the former tree.

(via Wiki)

After a few pics, we ventured along and found our way to the pumpkin patch at Terhune Orchard. I have to say, it was slim pickings! But we each found a pumpkin to bring home. C also found the caramel apples, and I got a cup of hot cider...yummm!

my lil pumpkin...and huge sunglasses :)

C and I with our lil guy...in matching brown shirts! C was not happy about that!

I was not too excited to go pumpkin picking this year (gasp!). That's because last year, we picked pumpkins and set them out on our doorstep. One day I came home from work to find the smashed!! I think it was one of the neighborhood hooligans. I was so upset. So of course this year, I was not too thrilled to have it happen again. But then C had the brilliant idea to decorate inside. Hurray!

Our pumpkins and wagon, in front of our fireplace

Also, Meg asks: **What is the best Halloween costume idea that you've come across (or done yourself!)?**

The best idea I've heard of this year was a couple themed one. The guy dressed up as a boxer, and the girl dressed up as a lua/hula girl, and they called themselves Hawaiian Punch! Love it!

How was your weekend?

Newport, RI Wedding Weekend Pt. 1

Two weeks ago, C and I headed to Newport, Rhode Island for our good friends' wedding. I have been to RI before, but never to Newport...and it was absolutely beautiful! The wedding was on a Friday (off from work!) at 5, so we had to leave pretty early. However, getting there was a breeze. We checked in, got ready. had a few beers, and then hopped on the trolley to the venue.

The wedding went off without a hitch. They had a gorgeous outdoor wedding overlooking the water. Afterwards, there was a 2 hour long cocktail hour, which would have been fine, but the sun had gone down and it was pretty cold, even with the two heat lamps they had set up!

The wedding reception was a blast. I think the best part was the photo booth they had. Actually, it wasn't a booth exactly, more like a big white screen with a camera in front of it, and a table full of fun accessories.

OhMyGoodness!

You could just see how tipsy everyone was getting as the night went on- it was hilarious!!

Unfortunately all of those pics are on the photographer's Facebook page (and I 'm not going to download all of them!)...

Ok ok, maybe I'll sneak a few in Part 2!

Driving into town

Trolley ride to the wedding! Please excuse my flat hair- it was still air-drying!

Trolley crew!!

The view!



The beautiful bride and her momma, with the venue in the background.
Her dress was stunning!



The Newlyweds!

Sunset over the water

The Mrs dancing with her girls!



Best wedding cake ever?...ICE CREAM CAKE!!!

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Date Night!

A few weeks ago (so bad at uploading pics, which leads to delayed posts, sorry!), C and I went out for a date night in NYC. I told him it was a surprise and "just for the hell of it" but really I had a groupon that was going to expire the next day. He was pretty nervous, why, I have no idea! I know what he likes, and I wouldn't take him somewhere where the food wasn't good! 

We went to Guantanamera, one of my absolute favorite Cuban restuarants.

I had been there at least once before. I love their food, they have amazing sangria, live music every night, and they even have an old man who hand rolls Cuban cigars right outside on the weekends (free for customers!).

The ambiance and the crowd are just right, and I was anxious to take C, espeically since we don't go on official "date nights" often.

This was his food- skirt steak with peppers and onions and rice. He cleared his plate. Win!

I had the paella- (served piping hot, still in the pan) clams, mussels, lobster tail, shrimp, sauseeg, and chicken over a bed of some of the most flavorful rice ever.

This was C's side dish- squished, fried plantains, with garlic, aka tostones

A very happy me with my glass of sangria (we polished off a pitcher!)

C's Birthday Dinner #1

C's Birthday Dinner #1 by lildesiqua featuring high heel boots

What a beautiful Saturday we're having here in NJ! Kinda wish I was out punkin picking! But alas, C had work this morning, and is now napping for a bit before we run some errands. Hopefully tonight we'll get out with some friends for some Trenton-style Tomato Pie in celebration of my recent PROMOTION!!!

Haha, yes, October is turning out to be a great month so far! On Monday I was given a promotion (with a raise...woot woot!). I'm am now helping with customer service for our new financial system along with my usual duties. So excited! I already had one celebratory dinner-- I was telling my friend right after I found out taht I wanted to go out for seafood with C to celebrate...and she was like "oooh hold on a sec..." After digging through her purse for a minute, she handed me a $50 gift card to Red Lobster!!! She said that she had gotten it as a gift about 5 years ago, and didn't really like the restaurant, so she just gave it to me! (The dinner and wine was delicious by the way- and we only paid $9, which was tip!)

This month is also C and I's 3 year anniversary! We're not doing anything super special or spending money on gifts because we figure we'll buy each other something on our trip in mid-November.

Speaking of trip- we booked our flight last week! We are officially going to India for our friend's wedding for 2 WEEKS! Eeep! So now we just have to figure out our itinerary and book hotels.

C's birthday is also this month (2 days after our anni)! His family dinner is tomorrow, and I hope to wear something like the outfit above. Except I don't own booties. Hmmm. I'm sure I'll figure something out!

I hope you are all having a fabulous weekend!

It's OK! and Theater Thursday

 It's Thursday! This week I'm saying "It's OK" ... 
...to want to dress up for Halloween even though you have no party to attend or children to take trick-or-treating

...to be annoyed with Christmas season overload, but start buying presents in July

...to wait a few weeks to get into new TV shows because you don't want to get attached in case they get cancelled

...to look like you're working hard so no one interrupts you while reading blogs

...to have already started your birthday and Christmas wishlist (see link above!)

...to change into pj's about 5 min after getting home

...to follow your favorite reality stars on Twitter
...to play Solitaire on your phone for two solid hours during your commute because you accidentally had your iPod on all day and now it's dead :(

...to genuinely enjoy leftovers. Sometimes it just tastes better the second time around!

...to raid your refrigerator and pantry looking for food to avoid eating out

What are you saying "It's OK" to this week? Link up above!
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Today's "Theater Thursday" is Easy A

I actually caught this on TV one day. It's basically an updated version of The Scarlet Letter. I was a little wary of seeing it because it looked a bit "teeny-bopper-y" from the previews, but I really enjoyed it! Also, I didn't realize that Lisa Kudrow, Amanda Bynes, and Stanley Tucci were in it, they were wonderful. I think her parents made the movie...they were hysterical!

From iMDB:

High school student Olive Penderghast (Emma Stone) finds herself the victim of her school's "rumor mill" when she lies to her best friend Rhiannon (Alyson Michalka) about a weekend tryst with a fictional college freshman. Word quickly spreads of Olive's promiscuity and, much to her surprise, she welcomes the attention. When she agrees to help out a bullied friend by pretending to sleep with him, her image rapidly degrades to a more lascivious state and her world begins to spin out of control. As she helps more and more of her classmates and her lies continue to escalate, Olive must find a way to save face before the school's religious fanatic Marianne (Amanda Bynes) gets her expelled and she loses a shot at attaining her own happiness. Written by The Massie Twins

One of my fave lines:

"Whatever happened to chivalry? Does it only exist in 80's movies? I want John Cusack holding a boombox outside my window. I wanna ride off on a lawnmower with Patrick Dempsey."

Have you seen this movie? What did you think?

Budget Recap/ Where'd My Money Go? 10/1 - 10/12

Bills/ Fixed Payments
Rent: $944.18 (increase due to resigning lease)
Cable: $205.93
Phone: $90.00
Transportation: $299.00
Groceries: $300.00
Netflix: $5.34
Credit Report: $16.95 (I've decided to keep this as I found an error recently and want to track it)
Loan Repayment 1: $125.00
Loan Repayment 2: $40.00
Savings: $240.00


Other
Eating Out: $50.00
Shopping: $60.00
Entertainment: $25.00/week
Beauty/Wellness: $30.00/ month
Miscellany: $200.00/month

Where'd My Money Go?

Bills/Fixed Payments
Rent: $944.18
Cable: $205.93
Phone: $90.00
Transportation: -- (transitchek deducted from pay)
Groceries: $40.00
Netflix: $5.34
Loan Repayment 1: $125.00
Loan Repayment 2: $40.00
Total: $1450.45

Shopping
Charlotte Russe: $60.00
Cardigans Online: $56.00
CVS: $13.00
Total: $129.00

Miscellany
Wedding Present: $100.00
Hotel for Wedding: $130.00
Fantasy Football Fee: $50.00
Total: $280.00
Eating Out
Fatty Crab: $44.00
Popeyes: $10.00
Lobster Rolls: $20.00
People's Cafe: $15.00?
Corner Cafe: $17.00?
Drinks: 20.00??
Total: $126.00

Entertainment
The Breakers Mansion Admission: $22.50


This is a very loose interpretation of my expenses lately. We went to Rhode Island for a friend's wedding, and I wasn't very good at tracking my monies. You can see where I went over budget in red.
I think I have to re-think/re-calculate my budget, especially in the areas of eating out/entertainment/shopping. I'm not sure what's a "good amount" to set aside!

I think I should try the Envelope Method. Dave Ramsey says that using cash instead of cards is best to track spending, but when I use cash I forget exactly what I spend! In The Envelope Method, you put whatever you budgeted for the week in specially marked envelopes, one for each category...so in my current budget, I would have one envelope labeled "eating out" with $50.00 cash, and another labeled "entertainment" with $25.00 cash, and so on. I think I would be better at tracking that way. And once the envelope is empty,...no more spending in that category!

I'm going to start doing this on Friday. Also, I will try to do better with holding myself accountable with weekly budget recaps!

I can do it!!

Do you have any other budgeting tips or ideas?

It's OK- Football, OJ, and more

 It's Thursday! That means it's time to link up for "It's OK!" Thursdays! This week, I'm saying "It's OK"... 

...to have a love/hate relationship with football season. I like watching to hang out with my boyfriend and keep up with my fantasy team, but I totally forget about my fantasy team before Sundays.

...to restart your NFL RedZone subscription every football season.
 
...to not understand the difference between Tropicana's "Lots of Pulp" vs. "Grovestand"
 
...to prefer the "No Pulp" variety
 
...to laugh at your boyfriend's super corny jokes ("We don't have any OJ,...we only have Old J")
 
...to learn new info via Twitter. For example, I learned that Starbucks is actually a character in "Moby Dick" and that's why they use a picture of a mermaid. And that Ashton and Demi broke up. And that Marriott is owned by Mormons.
 
..to wish you had an iPhone so that you could tweet easier. And take instagram pics. And play Angry Birds.
 
...to learn how to play Angry Birds by your 5 year old cousin.
 
...to be super excited to go to Newport, Rhode Island tomorrow for your friend's wedding! And eat lobster rolls and real New England Clam Chowdah!
 
 

What are you saying "It's OK!" to this week?

 

Also, the original Polaroid camera is back for a limited time!! I'm kind of loving it! Check it out!

Buy the Limited Edition Polaroid SX-70 at the Photojojo Store!