A New Year!

I am so excited to be starting with a fresh new year. My New Years resolutions are to:
1. Blog more
2. Have better work-life balance
3. Be healthier

So far I am of to a pretty good start on #2. I've started coming in at 9 am (when work actually starts) as opposed to early like I used to do and that has been going great!

I played soccer on Saturday and Sunday and then went to the gym on Mon, Tues, and Wed. I have a session schedule for Fri which means Thurs is my only day off. Although I am super sore, I feel great and super healthy and hope to keep this up.

I am also trying to eat healthier and for starters I am trying to consistently go to the grocery store so I have food to make for dinner and lunches. I always feel so much healthier when I make food versus eating out (not to mention saving money as well).

Hope everyone had a great New Years! My BFF Jenna came to visit me in DC :)

Weekend Recap: My Spectacular Birthday!

Friday was my birthday so I celebrated all weekend. First, my work gave me the best gift off of all and gave me the whole weekend off of work! It felt amazing not to even have to worry about my email, let alone come into the office!

The day started off great with some surprise birthday flowers from the boyfriend at work as well as cake, cupcakes, and a mini party for me at work.

Friday night after I met up for dinner with my sister and my friend Honore which was fun. Honore came adorned with a birthday balloon for me so random strangers kept wishing me a happy birthday. Jesica met up with us there too and she filled us in on the exciting details of her new job (hooray) and we met up with my brother-in-law, the boyfriend, my cousin who was visiting from out of town, and other friends at a Holiday house party which was really fun.

Saturday the boyfriend and I played pick-up soccer which was fun, especially since I hadn't been in a few weeks because of work, and also because the weather was gorgeous/unseasonably warm. After soccer I received my birthday gifts from the boyfriend which were a Lululemon workout back and a clock/iPhone holder. After relaxing a bit we headed downtown to ice skate on the mall and then to a delicious dinner at Acadiana. It was basically the perfect day :)

Sunday I met up with my friend from college Michelle and we had lunch and saw some of the sites downtown. After that I ran some errands, attempted to tidy up my apartment, and watched some football. I wish every weekend was as much fun!

Nothing New

Since I last left you on Election Day not much is new except I have been working even more. Last weekend I worked late on Friday, worked from home all day Saturday, saw Skyfall with the boyfriend on Saturday night, went to the boyfriends soccer game Sunday morning, worked from hone during the day, and had my soccer game Sunday evening - it was the playoffs and despite a hard fight from my team, we didn't win. But that's ok, there's always next season. After the game it was back to work until bed.

Besides that my week has been getting up early, working all day, leaving work late at night, and getting a few hours of sleep. I'm not complaining though. I'm really enjoying the work. Needless to say though I am excited about Thanksgiving next week! I finally got the ok to take Friday off, so I will be going up to Cleveland to spend the holiday with my family. I am so excited!!!

In line to vote

I am currently standing in line to vote so I thought I would use this time to update. Besides exercising my civic duty, I've still just been working. This past weekend I worked 8 hrs on Saturday from home and 8 hrs in the office on Sun. It's only Tuesday but I'm already ready for the weekend.

Last Saturday and this past Friday night I went to Halloween parties. I wore my semi-homemade Raphael (from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) costumes to both.

Last weekend I met the newest addition to the family, my sister and her husbands new kitten Hunter. He was so tiny, so adorable, and vey rambunctious.

That's about all I have to report. Now lets hope this line moves fast since I desperately need to get back to work and I've already been gone 2 hours!

Weekend Update: Work and Working Out

My parents called last night to catch up and see what was new, I had nothing to say other than I've been working, working, and working. I've also tried to keep up a consistent workout schedule, which usually consists of the gym twice a week, pickup soccer on Saturdays, and my soccer league games on Sunday evening.

Between working out and working, I haven't been cooking as much as I would like. I'm hoping to change that this weekend by hopefully making something I can eat for the week.

Speaking of this weekend, I have a Halloween party to go to but no costume yet. I need to get on that!

I wish I had some excitement to blog about but nothing new to report, except the boyfriend and I will be going to Miami in Jan because he is running the Miami Marathon. I can't wait!

Weekend Update: Baseball and Apple Pie

After an extremely long and tiring week I was so excited when Friday finally got here. The boyfriend was pumped for game 5 of the playoffs with the Cardinals versus the Nationals. Despite taking an early lead of 6-0, the Nationals somehow managed to loose - which was bad for DC but extremely exciting for the boyfriend. I still think I was good luck since I fell asleep on the couch before the game started and woke up right before the Cardinals scored their first run.

Saturday the boyfriend and I spent most of the day organizing and cleaning. I took a bunch of stuff from his place back to mine, and even though we only live a mile apart we decided to use car2go instead if taking multiple trips. Car2go is a super cool rental car system, where all the cars are Smart cars. They are parked all over the city, and you pay for it by the minute. I have never driven a smart car before and the boyfriend and I were really surprised by home roomy it felt inside. It was also insanely easy to park which was awesome considering I suck at parallel parking. The best part is, unlike ZipCar, you don't have to return it to where you picked it up. Genius!

Saturday night we were too tired to go out, so we decided to go see the movie Argo. In case you haven't heard of it, it's based on the true story of The Iranian Hostage Crisis in which the US embassy in Iran was taken over and the workers were held hostage. 6 employees managed to escape and sought refuge in the Canadian ambassadors house. The CIA hatched a plan to make a fake movie named Argo which would be the cover story for for sneaking those 6 employees out. The movie was very well done and extremely suspenseful. I highly recommend!

Sunday I spent most of the afternoon baking. The boyfriend's mom sent him apples that she had picked so we decided to make a pie with the apples. I had never made a pie by myself before and it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. It turned out delicious and I have to say I impressed myself. I used Martha Stewarts recipe for Old Fashioned Apple pie and she definitely knows what she's doing.

Sunday evening I got to babysit for a teeny tiny baby during the boyfriend's soccer game (the babies parents both play on the boyfriend's team). I had so much fun with the baby, but I was reminded of how tiring babies were! After babysitting then I headed off to my soccer game which we won!

I love coming home to a clean apartment that is well organized with a fully stocked fridge - doesn't get much better than that!

Girls Night: Craft Project

Friday night my friend Jesica had a few girls over for craft night. She had the idea to make coasters. She found a post on Apartment Therapy (an awesome site by the way) which led her to the how-to site here:
http://www.darkroomanddearly.com/2012/04/diy-homemade-polaroid-coasters.html?m=1

Jesica did all the prep work - she bought white tiles, Mod Podge, the brushes, the acrylic spray, and the felt circles. All we had to do was show up and bring photos!

We had so much fun looking at all the photos everyone brought and,of course, girl talk.

The whole process was pretty easy. First we cut the photos down to size. Then we applied some Mod Podge to the back to glue the photo down onto the tile. Once the photo was set and not sliding around, we applied a layer of Mod Podge over the entire coaster top and let dry. Repeat the last step about 3 times. Then wait 24 hours.

Jesica had to do the rest of the steps herself for all our coasters (thanks Jes!) but the next step is to spray the acrylic spray over top. This helps make it waterproof. Lastly, you apply the felt circles to the bottom of the tiles so they can glide smoothly. And viola awesome handmade coasters!

Girls craft night was such a hit we decided to do it monthly. Now I have to start brainstorming some craft ideas for when it's my turn.