I Am A Princess...

Hello!  This post is inspired by my evening of Disney movie viewing!  I am obsessed with the Disney Princesses and have been ever since I was a little girl!  I have always wanted to be a princess!  Every year when I was little I am pretty sure I bothered my Mom to be a princess and she never gave in lol... I joke and tell her it is all her fault that I am such a priss now :)  She was quite the crafty mum and made almost all of my costumes when I was younger (while the trick-or-treating lasted at least-- that is a whole other story).  I was a clown one year... hula hoop around the waist and all.  I was a "Starry-Starry Night" one year... I think she just found a fun fabric at JoAnn's and wanted to use it lol...  I was never the pretty, pretty princess that I wanted to be.  So Traci... this obsession with all things pink, sparkly and pretty is your fault... ha!  Just kidding-- I love you! 

Case in point- The tiara I found on NYE one year...

Anyway... tonight I heard a poem that made me realize exactly what I like about the Disney Princess 'model' if you will.  They hold within them all of the qualities that I strive to carry myself... I know this probably sounds so stupid-- but bear with me. 

I am a Princess.

I am brave sometimes. I am scared sometimes. Sometimes, I am brave even when I am scared.

I believe in loyalty and trust. I believe loyalty is built on trust.

I try to be kind. I try to be generous. I am kind even when others are not so generous.

I am a Princess.

I think standing up for myself is important. I think standing up for others is more important.

But standing with others is most important.

I am a Princess.

I believe compassion makes me strong. Kindness is power. And family is the tightest bond of all.

I have heard I am beautiful. I know I am strong.

I am a Princess. Long may I reign.

I loved this!  I think it is the perfect summation of how I feel, and would like to feel, about myself.  This may be something that a lot of you think is really silly of me, but I really do believe this.  It's not a bad way to look at life, is it?  I surely think not. 

It has been really hard to think of who my absolute favorite Disney Princess is... it is honestly a 3-way tie!  I can't decided between Ariel, Cinderella and Aurora!  Ugh-- so hard lol...


Who is your favorite Disney Princess?

 

 

...Baby I'm About To Have Me Some Fun!

At least it was... and it was a glorious one at that!  This was my one weekend for the month of April that I had off!  It was a perfect weekend-- the weather was beautiful and I had not one plan!  All of my weekends are booked up to September after this month so I am thankful to get a little me time!  I was able to hang out with friends that I haven't seen in a while, drive around and have brunch (I love brunch and have missed it so haha).  I did have to work on Friday, but when I got off I was actually able to come home and relax and not have to worry about going to bed early because I had to work the next day.

Friday night I met some friends at Schooner's in Oxford and had my first Orange Crush of the season-- it was delicious!  I didn't stay out that late because Friday's are the longest days for me.  Having to be at work at 8 am when you have an hour and a half commute does not make for a fun morning.  I have been adding more and more songs to my playlists on Spotify and that helps the rides go by faster--sorry it clogs up my newsfeed on Facebook... I don't know how to stop it :(  That night Katie and I decided we were going to go for a walk on Saturday morning, so when I got home I went to bed so I didn't hate my life when I had to get up in the morning.


Sweet boy by the pool :)

Saturday morning I actually got to sleep in a little (Drizzy let me sleep until 8:45 that day!).  When I got up I fed the pups and fixed a cup of coffee.  I never get to enjoy my coffee on the weekdays because I am always fixing it in a hurry and not actually finishing it at work.  I sat out in the lounge chair by the pool while the dogs ran around the yard.  It was so nice outside!  Drizzy allowed me to take a quick shot of him-- he is just so darn cute! I cannot get enough of this little man!  Katie and I talked about walking to the Farmer's Market in town with Drizz and then grabbing some breakfast.  I think we made it to the end of the neighborhood before we decided to take him back to the house and just drive for breakfast lol... oops!  The rest of the day was spent catching up on TV from the week before and snuggling with the pup.  I was planning on going out that night and never made it-- oh well!

I had gotten to catch up a little with my friend Kaleigh at Schooner's on Sunday and we had talked about getting brunch at Latitude 38 on Sunday afternoon. 

Yummmmm

I can never turn down and good brunch so we met at 1:00pm and pulled up right to the bar!  I had a mimosa and Kaleigh had orange juice (womp*womp).  I ordered a special order from Rob, the chef, and it was so good!  I got a Crab Cake benedict *drool*... I love this dish-- especially when you sprinkle a little Old Bay on top :)  The rest of the day on Sunday was spent tooling around Oxford and St. Michaels.  Perfect day to ride around and just have fun!


Nutty Buddy Ice Cream from the Highland Creamery :)

Kaleigh and her Ice Cream

Loving my Ice Cream lol

Photo Shoot on the water at Schooners

Love driving through Oxford... so pretty!

Monday afternoon I finally took Drizz to PetsMart to get his nails did and got him a new tag!  He is officially branded with his name and address! He was so great with the girls that were grooming him, so I obviously got him a fun new toy!! He picked a stuffed Gator off of the shelves.  Such a sweet little man lol...

I had a great weekend and this week hasn't been too bad either!  I am halfway through my 7 day stretch of work and still going strong!  Heres hoping the 2nd half goes just as fast!

Did you do anything fun last weekend?

Is It Really April Already?!?

Well hey there!  How ya'll been?? I feel like I have abandoned a relationship that I truly hold dear to my heart.  This blog was incredibly cathartic during my Virgin Diet journey... so I don't understand why I dropped off the blogosphere... anyway-- I am back and want to be able to keep it going!

Many things have happened in the time that I was away-- let me break it down for ya!

In the beginning of March I was nominated for an award at my company's management awards; the BMA's if you will.  This was something that was so exciting for me-- I never get awards lol... The BMA's were super fun and , while I didn't win, I was so proud of myself for even getting nominated in the first place.  I had a small problem trying to find a dress for the event, but eventually I found a really fun red dress at BCBG.  Here are some pics from that night!

Ohhh there was also a photobooth-- which my team took full advantage of!

We didn't realize the guys had already hit the button to start...

Days at work are obviously boring with these people lol...

Who knew back in HS we would all work for the same company-- <3 these girls

I was also able to make a quick trip up to NYC to see two of my favorite people in the world-- Carly and Kyle!  Carly and I have been friends since our freshman year at East Carolina University-- go Pirates!  I always love being able to take a quick bus ride up to the city to see her and we always have an amazing time!  I got there early Friday afternoon and we just did some errands before we had to get ready for dinner.  Carly had made reservations at a restaurant on the lower east side called The Stanton Social.  I have read some things about it and we pretty excited about trying it out.  While getting ready for dinner Carly and I were having too much fun with lipsticks lol... we both decided on a nice, bold lip :)

Our night started with a stressful cab ride to dinner-- he had no clue where he was going and that is never fun.  Once we got there our table wasn't ready and they had us wait at the bar upstairs.  We had a few cocktails and eventually made it to our table.  The restaurant had a really cool vibe and we were having a great time!  The Stanton Social is a tapas restaurant and we had a lot of things to choose from.  They recommend each person at the table ordering two dishes so everyone has enough to share.  The final menu choices were:

• Red Snapper Tacos
• Maryland Jumbo Lump Crabcake 'Corn Dogs' (sounds scary-- they were AMAZING)
• Chorizo and Roasted Poblano Mac & Cheese
• Sliders (Italian Sausage and Peppers and Kobe Philly with Truffle and Goat Cheese Fondue)
• French Onion Soup Dumplings

The French Onion Soup Dumplings were the grand winner of choices from the night.  O.M.G. they were so delicious!!  This was the dish with the most recommendations on different websites... ohhhh were they right!

Saturday we woke up with a little hangover lol... but we had reservations at a great restaurant up the street from their place called Jacob's Pickles.  I was able to try fried pickles for the first time there and they were so good! I have a weird obsession with pickles and I do not know how I have made it this long without having them!  Carly and I had fresh mimosas and Kyle had a massive bloody mary!  This thing was more like a work of art than an actual drink lo...
They had warned me that the portions were pretty big-- but I didn't realize just how big they were.  I ordered the bacon, egg, cheese and chicken breakfast sandwhich.  This thing was massive! I could only eat half of it!  To work off our breakfast Carly and I went shopping!  I spent way too much on make up and such, but I had a great time.  We finally worked up an appetite and stopped for a quick lunch of wings and chicken tenders lol... perfect food to watch March Madness at the bar.

My only request for the weekend was to make a trip to SoHo and have lunch at Cafe Habana.  They have the most amazing Cuban sandwiches and grilled corn that is to die for!  The corn is my favorite part lol-- I will learn how to make this! 

I realize that that weekend was not at all "diet" friendly-- but ohhhh was it delicious!  Out of the 10 lbs that I lost during that time I have managed to keep 8 off.  I am planning on getting myself together and keeping the weight loss going... so wish me luck!

Have you taken any fun trips recently?