TIMES SQUARE PROPOSAL...BUT NOT MINE ;)

A few weeks ago, my friends and I took part in helping out with a secret marriage proposal in Times Square for our friend Megan! Her boyfriend had planned out everything and she had no idea. She took her blindfold off to her friends and family holding signs asking will you marry me?? and she said yes! It was so much fun to be a part of it. Afterwards we all went to a restaurant called Osteria Cotta in NYC for drinks and dinner. It was a great day in the city spent celebrating love and friends.

BRIDAL SHOWER

A few weeks ago one of my best friends celebrated her bridal shower. Being that half of the bridal party (me included up until January) is from out of state, it was a little difficult for all of the bridesmaids to get on the same page about planning festivities! But in the end everything came together and we were able to pull off what we thought was a pretty Pinterest worthy bridal shower. My favorite part was a post-it game, where all guests had to write down a memorable (or not so memorable) moment of the bride that she had to read out loud to the group and then try to guess who wrote it. There were some pretty interesting post-it stories that made for a good laugh. The bride handled all the somewhat embarrassing shower games with much grace and poise! Let's hope that when it is one day my turn, such games are out of style ;)

We are now just two months away from the big day where she says I do, but first ... the bachelorette party. In a few short weeks we are going to Nashville to celebrate for the weekend! I'm excited to say I will definitely be documenting that weekend so stay tuned.

finally able to link up with nicole's treat yo'self!

atlantic city

my fourth of july weekend in atlantic city with the girls was just what i needed. it was my first time there and i think we did it right ;) a little time was spent at the beach, a little time in the casinos, and a little time in the clubs. the perfect weekend away.

what did you do for the fourth??

pretty please

one thing i try to do when i am home is spend as much time with my closest friends as possible. sometimes i feel like i am always making the rounds but i'm usually not home for very long so i have to take advantage of the time that i have.

last month when i was home i spent some time with my oldest friend, jess. we spent most of the time looking at her inspiration pictures for her upcoming wedding! i was so excited when she got engaged a few months ago and all i have wanted to do is talk to her about what her big day is going to be like.

while we were being super girly looking at wedding pictures, she asked me to be one of her bridesmaids! she had made all of her bridesmaids their own nail polish color in a box asking for us to pretty please be her bridesmaid? of course i said yes!

so now that my brother's wedding is done i have another one to look forward to next year!

i can't wait to spend this next year helping you get ready for your big day.

love you, jess!

beach weekend

three years ago i came to costa rica with a group of students from my college. obviously it had a pretty big impact on me...you know since i live here and all. that was the first year that endicott made the trip to costa rica and has been doing ever since. the professor that took my group was finally doing the trip again this year and he contacted me asking if i would be interested in meeting up while he was here and i said of course. he then asked me to tag along on their beach trip weekend as somewhat of a mentor to the students so that they could see someone from endicott who took a completely different route than most and is now living and working abroad. weekend to the beach? sure!

i had such a good time. i bonded with a group of girls who i definitely would have hung with during my time at endicott and the whole weekend i was reminded of my time in costa rica with my own group of friends. we stayed in the exact same hotel and i had so many moments where i just wanted to say remember that time?? but then i was reminded those were completely different people. although we did make some new memories that could rival those of the past .. i mean, a 3 hour bus ride with 18 girls in their self-proclaimed acapella group singing pitch perfect songs? girls after my own heart.

 and lucky for me one of the girls from this trip is staying in costa rica a whole four months! three cheers for new friends ;)

a weekend with the girls

two weekends ago i headed to philadelphia for a girls weekend with two of my bests. oh what a weekend it was! none of us had ever spent too much time in that city and since it is just a short drive we thought it would be the perfect location. we didn't want to put too much pressure on ourselves to do a whole lot of touristy things but instead just focus on having a good weekend together. so we walked around the city until our toes couldn't stand the cold anymore and then ate delicious food at different restaurants until our stomachs couldn't hold anymore. i was also lucky one night to meet up with one of my old roommates from college and it was the best to catch up with her for a while. 

it was just the kind of weekend i needed. plus i was able to cross one of my wishes off for this year!

the best of friends

since before i got home my mom had been asking me if i would be interested in having a turkey dinner while i was here. i didn't need to think about that...yes i would love a turkey dinner, especially from her cooking.

so that is what we did on sunday. i invited two of my bests to come over and we had a nice night of turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and green beans. we spent some time watching the 12.12.12. concert that we had taped. man that bruce looked just as good the second time i watched him ;)

i just love those girls and i'm so glad i got to spend some quality time with them. it got us ready for our upcoming trip to philadelphia in two weeks. speaking of ... anyone have some good recommendations for things to do in philly?

friends

guysssss i'm leaving my house to go to the airport in exactly 1 hour. ugh!

these two weeks have flown by and i'm a little (a lot) sad that they are over. don't mistake my sadness for sadness going back to costa rica because i am beyond excited to see paris and my little bub rocco!

however,

what am i gonna do without all those people up there? uughh thats the hardest part is not having those guys with me all the time.

well friends, it sure has been so much fun being around you guys for a few weeks. see you at christmas time!

boston with the best

boston this weekend was awesome and just what i needed. i got in around lunch time on thursday and lindsey and i went to this delicious italian market and ordered sandwiches, the first of many yummy meals. later on we met up with my brother and laura and they took me to a little pet store by their house and i got rocco a present (to be later posted!). and finally, what i had been waiting for all day, we went to half price sushi! we call it half price sushi because thats what it is .. half price .. all the time. and it is awesome. and then i had my first starbucks in 7 months, also great.

 in the morning we made a lovely little breakfast. sweet potato home fries, eggs, and fresh strawberries. and then i found lindsey's tea stash. all those cans of tea were just some of her collection haha .. don't worry, she works at starbucks. then we geared up for a day in the city!

 it was super hot out so we walked down to the harbor and just sat and enjoyed for a little while. being in boston and sitting by the water reminded me a lot of college and that whole area. my school was right on the beach but since it was never quite warm enough to go in, except during finals week mostly, we would just sit and enjoy the smell and sounds of the water. sitting by the harbor with my college roomie was a nice little reminder.

continuing our lovely afternoon, we made a pit stop in the north end for some yummy italian treats where the chocolate immediately melted because of the heat, but were still super yummy. then we walked towards the gardens and went on the swan boats. love the little fun things around the city. then we walked and shopped alll the way up newbury street before heading home and making pesto pizza! stay tuned for the recipe ;)

it was such a perfect little weekend! it seriously reminded me of senior year and school when lindsey and i were roommates. i sure do miss her.

leavin'on a ...bus

shirt, pants: j.crew factory // belt: gap // shoes: aerosoles // bracelets: mom

so, guys i am headed up to boston for a few days!

some of you may or may not know that i went to school up on the north shore of MA, which is about half an hour north of boston. one of my roommates and hometown besties now lives in boston so i am going to spend 4 glorious days with her!

we are of course going to visit my brother and laura who also live up there. half-price sushi, here we come!

also, as per some requests i'm doing another outfit post! i did this one and it was kinda fun so i thought, why not try another?

i pretty much died when i saw these purple pants, as purple is my favorite color. so i had to buy them. and the shoes. i already have a pair of these wedges in cognac and they are my favorite shoe so i figured it was only natural to get another pair of my favorite shoe, in my favorite color. right?

they definitely don't have this in costa rica

 a self-serve frozen yogurt place with a million toppings choices? nope definitely don't have those in costa rica. i experienced my first one yesterday with some friends and uhm, i might be going back every day until i leave.

i know you're probably all saying, "uh, where the heck have you been, weirdo?" but this phenomenon has not made its way down there yet. i mean, they just opened their first starbucks!

i had a delicious peach frozen yogurt topped with raspberries, strawberries, blackberries, brownie pieces, and rainbow sprinkles (thats a given). and i was with the best company too! one of my friends just bought a new german shepard puppy and he came along as well :) 

do any of you have a favorite froyo place like this?? lets hope that one makes its way down to costa rica very soon.

p.s. check out my guest post over here! i'm talking a little bit about what happens during summer time.

happy 4th

so far, being home has been so great. just like normal.

summer has always reminded me of camp and my camp friends, so it just felt right to spend the 4th with them. we had a nice little bbq and some really great catch up time. i couldn't even express how much i love those girls (missing one of course).

then we enjoyed a nice little fireworks show and called it a night.

i really hope everyone had a lovely 4th and celebrated with friends and family :)

a thought for monday

my favorite place

i've been thinking a lot about my friends lately.

in the past few years i've gone through some ups and downs in regards to my friendships.

but it has made me realize who has stuck around and who was never really there in the first place.

being away from your friends, in another state, or in my case in another country is hard on any relationship, including friendships. but in the past almost two years of being away from my best friends for months and months at a time, i've realized which of my friendships are genuine.

i'm not going to lie, sometimes i wish i had never chose to be so far away from my friends at all. sometimes i wish i was closer to them to be able to call them or stop by whenever i wanted to. but since i'm not i've learned that i have to put in a little more effort to skype them or gchat, or download whatsapp, which have all saved my sanity. 

my friends have learned to put in that effort too. and i couldn't be more grateful.

so this post is for you, my dear friends. i surely cannot wait to see you.

two years ago today..

i graduated? uhh .. where has that time gone?

thats me and my bestie just hanging out in the fountain on campus after graduation.

i honestly cannot believe that two years have gone by. in those two years i moved to spain, back to new jersey, and then to costa rica. i'd say these have been the biggest whirlwind two years of my life.

when i was younger i used to think that after i graduated college, i would get married, have the perfect career job, and a house. all by the age of 23. (ha!) but since now that i'm here at 23 and none of those things have quite gone the way i thought i'm thinking i'll push the deadline back oh, maybe 10 years????

but i'm so happy to say that because two years have gone by since i graduated, it now means that this weekend one of my other dear friends gets to graduate! during my graduation i remember thinking, i can't wait to go back in two years to see katie graduate. now that the time is here i am so sorry that i wont be able to make it but i am so proud that the day is finally here for her!

congratulations on finishing thesis and senior year, my muffin! you have big things ahead of you and i can't wait to see them unfold :) 

hey, bunny

 

 

meet tinks (the bunny). the girl is my best friend lindsey!  tinks is our other friends pet bunny. you see, me and lindsey love bunnies, we just think they are so cute and more importantly so cuddly soft! so the other day we went for a little visit to see him, pet him, and feed him a carrot. he wasn't really that interested in hanging out with us, he was more interested in getting out of his little cage. but thats okay! he was super soft and thats all we really cared about.