Is it really the end of October already???

A year ago today my mom had surgery to remove a lung tumor. She was diagnosed with stage 1a lung cancer. It was really scary for all of us since she was not a smoker and it was considered to be environmental for what caused the cancer. Since then she's had all clear lung scans and we couldn't be more thankful! We are celebrating tonight by having a family dinner. It definitely is something we couldn't be more happy about. Life is way too short sometimes.

Tomorrow after my poor Lexie has to get a shot we are having our annual Halloween party with my best friend and her husband. We've been doing this for the past 4 or 5 years or so and it's very fun. A night filled with Halloween themed food and scary movies. I cannot wait!

I'm so glad this week is over and its finally the weekendddd!!

bows make everything better

This bow shirt has really made my day!  Such a great deal too! $16.99 from Marshalls.

So glad its Tuesday already! Its really great having a Monday off. It makes the week go so much faster :)

fridayyyy

This week had dragged so much. TGIF!!

I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend with some friends and maybe start my next project. I've decided to repaint one of our bedrooms which is now being used as our computer room. I really get sick of paint colors so am looking forward to a fresh new look. Maybe, I'll find time to start it on Sunday!

Tomorrow I'm really looking forward to meeting up with some of my grad school friends. Its been forever since I've seen the two of them. I also get to meet my friends newborn baby for the very first time!  Its really funny how a few years ago all I saw on facebook was everyone getting married. Now all I see is baby after baby. I guess I'm finally at that age where its officially the baby stage. I feel old!. Still not sure if and when I'll be ready for that!!! I'm too busy looking forward to (hopefully) our Aruba vacation in April!!!!

My dogs are just too stinking cute! If only they were that innocent all the time!!

Almay smart shade CC cream

I don't normally stick to one brand of makeup but today I tried Almay CC cream and I absolutely love it. Its light on your face, blends so well, and covers any red marks on your skin. I'm very sensitive as well and it hasn't made me break out or anything. It covers my red marks from being irritated so well also. I really think its a great product!

Worst lasik patient everrr

So a month and a half ago I decided to get LASIK. I've struggled with contacts for the past few years and just couldn't handle it anymore. I was finally able to get the courage thanks to my best friend getting it done as well. We went to Dr. Barry Wasserman in Princeton, NJ. I can honestly say that staff there made the experience completely worth it.

The day of my surgery I was freaking out. I was shaking in the waiting room. I even was taking "before" pictures since it was going to be the very last time wearing glasses.

(note the Maui shirt. I wanted to picture myself back in Hawaii instead of on that surgery table!)

During the surgery I clenched the bear so hard but really I felt NOTHING. It was more the anticipation of it all. Afterwards I was really positive even though my vision was very blurry.

two thumbs up for going through with it!!

As I waited I realized my eyes were tearing a lot. I have sensitive eyes and they were just very irritated. The ride home I was almost in tears because I just wanted to sleep...which made me feel a zillion times better. The next day I was able to see and had 20/15 vision!!!! I even wrote this great testimonial on their Facebook page.

Well, things have gone a little down hill. I now have a blurry 20/20 vision. (part of the healing process I suppose) I am very irritated still. I feel dry so I use drops but in actuality I'm not dry and am irritated and I am just irritating my eyes more with drops. So I am only allowed to use a saline drop...which does nothing for me. So I'm very frustrated and am trying to give it time.

Overall, I love it. I can see when I wake up, I don't have to deal with contacts, but my eyes are just super sensitive. I believe everything I'm experiencing is normal I just wish I could fast forward to perfect eyes!!! All I have to say is though thank goodness for such a patient and caring doctor and staff because I sure have been a pain through it all!

No regrets here though and if your in NJ I highly recommend Dr. Wasserman :)

Weekend Update

Just a quick weekend update since I'm feeling under the weather today..

Friday was ordinary. I did a little shopping and then had Applebee's for dinner. The pretzels and beer dip is AMAZZINNGGG. Just thinking about it now makes me want some!

Saturday I got a haircut, although I think I want to go shorter now. I'm thinking something pretty drastic. Lets see if I can convince myself to do it in a few weeks.... I then had a huge family dinner since my aunt and uncle were visiting from Canada. I rarely see them so it was nice.  Afterwards we went to an Octoberfest block party which actually turned out to be a lot of fun!

Sunday was more family fun and unfortunately we had to watch the Jets lose. My husband is obsessed with the Jets so I really hate to see them lose!!

Happy Monday!

TBT "best" school portrait

Since, I haven't been home to look at all my school photos, I'm sure there are plenty that were terrible, but I still feel like this may have been the WORST everrrr. 

Meet Rachel in 8th grade. Yes, 8th grade. 

WHO HONESTLY NOW LOOKS LIKE THIS IN 8TH GRADE??!!. That's right, no one because even the kids in my 3rd grade class make sure they look better than me here!! Talk about needing to get a photo redo.  hahahhahhahahhahhaha

The lipstick was definitely thanks to my sister who is 5 years older. She encouraged me to wear makeup and that was when the dark lipstick and liner was in style! And this was pre-straightener days. Thank goodness for my chi now or I may still have looked like this. And getting rid of those bangs was the best decision ever. I'm glad I learned how to pluck my eyebrows before I grew them out because they are pretty bad here.

I wish I could say it got better in high school but it really didn't!! 

Picture day is tomorrow in my school. I always get nervous taking pictures but at least I know I can definitely look better than this school picture!

DIY vanity

So, on Friday I posted a picture of a table my sister had given me that I wanted to turn into a vanity. I am so happy with how it turned out.

On Pinterest I saw very bright colored vanities so I decided to be bold and try a really bright color.  I hated it after it was painted but once I put everything together I can honestly say I LOVE it now.

Breakdown of costs:

Table: donated to me by my sister
Mirror: had in house
Flowers: already had
Mirrored tray: given to me by my mom
Glass jars to hold accessories: had in house and are actually mini dessert dishes from Macy's
Candle: had in my house
Lamps: on clearance in Target for $12.58 each
Stand mirror: found in TJ Maxx for $14.99
Bins under table: I got in Home Goods for $14.99 each, plus the smaller one for $9.99
Chair: Bed bath and beyond for $29.99 + $6 for the material from Walmart to recover the chair (the fabric didn't match well)
Mirrored jewelry box: found in Target for $24.99 (I have my eye shadows in it)
Curtain rod above mirror: $16.99 in Home Goods
Curtain: already had from Target
Paint for table: Lowes (Nectarine) for $15.99

For a total of just about $200! This definitely makes having to get up for work to get ready more enjoyable!

fridayyy

There is nothing I love better than finding something in Target on clearance in my size. I found this dress for only $12.99!!!

I'm also going to be working on a project this weekend that I'm very excited for. Here's a sneak peak of the before and hopefully I'll be able to show the after on Monday!! The perks of having a sister who gets rid of everything!!! I really luck out with all the free things I get. :)

Have a great weekend!!

Things I'll never understand about dogs..

My dog Bentley yesterday decided to take a dead bird (I refuse to believe he killed it, I'm such an animal lover) and run around our yard with it in his mouth. Not only did he do that, but he also decided to throw it in the air continuously to really get my blood boiling. I made my husband run after him to get it...

Today, my dog Lexie decided to scratch at a dead frog continuously (again, believing it was already dead) until I yelled at her where she decided to then run with it in her mouth.

This is so unlike them. This has never happened and suddenly has happened the last two days?! They both have had a good teeth brushing since then!! I'm almost afraid this happens more than I've seen!


So here are some things I will never understand about my dogs...

•  why must they knock like crazy to go out, sit outside for a long time, come in and 2 minutes later knock to go out again?? you were just out there. nothing has changed.
• why do they always wake me up 10 minutes before my alarm is going to ring? it doesn't matter if I change my alarm, they still manage to get me up just before it rings!
• why do they squeak their toy in my face when I'm trying to watch TV? and if I then give them attention they walk away right away.
• why do they have to bark like MANIACS at the mailman? he comes everyday you would think they would recognize him by now!
• why do they have to take up the entire bed? they sleep SIDEWAYS so I have about 5 inches of the bed.
• why do they have to bite each other and fight if they get no attention? I can't ever have friends over without them going crazy for attention.
• why do they have to push the pillows off the couch right after I put them back on the couch?
• why do they have to scratch at the door so much that now my glass is completely ruined????
• why do they run outside barking like crazy before even knowing what is going on outside?
• why do they have to bark at my neighbors? they must hate me! :(

There is so much more and the list could go on!!

Technology is killing me!!

So, my computer crashed!! Whomp whomp. I can't login. I swear this always happens to my laptops. I think I need to invest in something that won't crash anymore! Hopefully daddy and his workers can work their magic.

My Samsung galaxy s3 also sucks and runs soooo slow. But it may or may not have to do with all the times I dropped it....!


I had a fabulous weekend. Got to spend some time with my brother in law and sister in law as well as had a football day with my bestie. Only we didn't watch football and watched scream 2 instead! That movie still scares me!!!! Our husbands got to enjoy the games while we were screaming in the other room!

Ohhhh and we bought a new car!!!


Woohoo!

I hope this week goes by fast!

Jersey Strong

Just when you think Seaside, NJ didn't go through enough with Hurricane Sandy last year...

 

 

This has to happen...

 

 

I can't even begin to imagine what these people are going through dealing with devastation for a second year in a row now. 



The hard to write but always needed "about me" post

I hate writing “about me” sections because I always wonder how can I really describe who I am in one blog post!!

 So..here are some bullet points to start!

I grew up as a Jersey girl but never seemed to go to the shore.  My dad hated the beach and my mom never traveled on highways so I never got to experience life on the jersey shore as a child.  Once I was able to drive, I got to experience a lot more of what makes NJ great.  As much as I love the Caribbean beaches much more than NJ, I still do appreciate what is within an hour drive of me!

 

I have a close group of friends who mean the world to me. I can count on all of them whenever needed and I believe that truly is what a girl needs in life.

 

I love to bake despite never having time for it. 

 

I have my masters in counseling and yet find myself very confused on where to be in life. At 28 I should have it all figured out but right now am just taking one day at time until it all gets figured out.

 

 

In 2011 Anthony and I got married. 

 

  

A month later we got our fur baby Lexie. 

She was our world till we decided to adopt this puggle Bentley. 

 

I like to go out and have fun.  

 

But also enjoy a night in with friends.

 

 

 There is so much more “about me” but this is a start! I hope you enjoy my blog. :o)