on Nicole's graduation party...

This girl graduated High School. We had a party for her. She got spoiled. What's new ;) I did a little photo shoot with her and naturally she is gorgeous. Check out those shoes and her new tattoo. Yes, she is an ice skater. 

Let's start out with the appetizers. 

 I know, quite a line up! First off, Mom made an exquisite cheese tray. Top of the line :) It was beautiful and so yummy. Then we have the meat tray--salami & sausages to go with the cheeses. Next, grilled zucchini rolls. This was a new recipe Mom tried out and it was pretty good. But next time we are going to try tweaking it. Cannot forget the bruschetta! Then my favorite I think out of the whole lot, the one thing that was calling my name every time I entered the kitchen was the spinach dip. Regular 'ol spinach dip but it was so tasty with the pieces of sourdough bread. I think I filled up on that! Aunt Cheryl made awesome feta & artichoke wraps that we threw on the grill and also very festive alcoholic fruit punch that I think was the main source of consumption ;) I wasn't able to dip my cup in that big bowl. Driver here with a toddler in the back plus that was the start of that rotten migraine so I was better off. Next time dear fruit punch with floating fruit. You. Are. Mine! Last but not least tiny mozzarella balls wrapped up with prosciutto. Phenomenal. And that was all our appetizers. Can you tell we are foodies??!

We all milled around and visited. Boys did their crazy stunts in the pool and had some fun with sliding as well. Really, just old fashioned family fun!

Dinner line-up was pretty grand as well. 

Chicken Piccata with Mom's own personal touch. Meatballs in red sauce for meatball sandwiches. Tortellinis (not pictured). Green beans. Tomato salad. And of course deviled eggs!!! FOOOOOD GALORE :D

Dessert. It's hard to think we all had room isn't it?!

My fruit trifle up first :) This was the first time I've make something like this and I got positive reviews so I was happy. Aunt Janice made Cheesecake Brownies. To. Die. For. And then of course Nicole's Congrats Cake. It was vanilla with a layer of raspberry marmalade in the middle. Yellow & green were Nicole's school colors. I thought I'd throw that out there haha. 

There. I bet you feel like you were part of our family shenanigans with my huge dump...of photos. Ha you thought I was going to just say dump. Got you! Please, I already know I am a nerd--no need to remind me.

♥A.

on some notables...

First off sorry for the short hiatus. I had an on going three or so day migraine. It was horrible. Just the light from my Mac screen was enough to make me curl up on the couch and whimper. No loud sounds or bright lights. Monday I tried my very best to get through my work day but I know I was kidding myself. In the end I had to call in Ashley to cover for me and right from work I headed to my doctors office. The doctor lady prescribed me a medicine that I can take now whenever I feel a headache coming on and will take it away completely annnnnnd it's supposedly long lasting, since my migraines last for days. So, that's that. Hoping this new medicine will help me out when I need it most. Unfortunately it does make me super drowsy and says I can't operate heavy machinery so not sure how I like that. Luckily I only need it every so often.

Last Saturday was Nicole's graduation party shindig and I promise to post pictures and all the goodies we consumed. It was a really great time. Lots of family and fun. Sebastian and kids were in the pool doing all kinds of ridiculous stunts while I helped Mom in the kitchen :) Perfect weather too! I'm sure Nicole landed herself some BIG bucks.

Now to this Saturday we are off to Reading for the our annual Reading Phillies game that we have been invited to for many years now. Debbie, who I like to call my fairy god mother because she is the sweetest most genuine lady I know. We met through my old coffee shop. She being my customer and I providing her with her favorite Iced Chai Tea Lattes. I was pregnant with Sebastian at the time and she quickly wanted to know everything and became very involved with my pregnancy thus us becoming friends. We have amazing seats in a special area of the park with a little pool for the kids to lounge in. How cool is that?! I am super excited to see her since it's been such a long time.

Speaking of Sebastian, I am really really really proud to say that my little man is potty trained :) He has been wearing undies for about three weeks now with little or no accidents. He is great with telling us when he has to go and let me just say how awesome this milestone is! I swear I love it so much. So easy and we have saved a good deal of money in the last couple weeks not have to buy as much Pull-Ups. He is still wearing them for bedtime which will be the next step but for now I am just so darn proud! Hooray for pee-pee on the potty :D Oh and he's turning three in a month. GASP.

Not sure if you remember but it's time again for Bobby to switch his whole schedule around for work. It's changes mid-way through the year. Now he will be working Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and every other Saturday. Not my favorite. Every other weekend he will be working both days :( Bummer. I'll get through it but right now it's depressing. Although Friday date nights are a plus!

Yeah, did you enjoy my diarrhea of the mouth about everything I can possible say to you? Thanks again for being here. I heart you.

♥A.

on my Friday night...

Out there tonight millions of people are doing wonderfully thrilling things on their Friday night. Out dancing. Out drinking. Seeing a movie. Having dinner at a fancy restaurant. At a party. Not me. No way. I'm here next to that boy. Yep. Him.
All day all I could think of is picking up Sebastian. Some days are agony and the anticipation of waiting for the time I can get in my car to pick him up at school and see my little boys smiling face as I walk towards him is one of the greatest things to me. It's amazing how much those feelings change when you become a parent. No longer am I excited for whatever I used to be excited for after I got off work, because hell I don't even remember those days anymore, but now I just can't wait to do motherly things. Tonight we ordered a pizza and I found myself eating one slice and then getting full on Sebastian's pizza crust or as I like to call them "pizza bones". Just as my father used to do with me. Or when it's time for a bath and I make up this ridiculous song and bellow it out TAKE YOUR UNDIES OFF, PULL 'EM DOWN PULL 'EM DOWN! TAKE YOUR UNDIES OFF, PULL 'EM DOWN PULL 'EM DOWN :) Just to get him to giggle and, yes to get him to pull his undies off by himself. And then in the bath he insists on flooding the bathroom by splashing like a maniac after I've told him a million times not too but still he does it while looking into my eyes with a devils sneer. Um, yeah he's like that. One of the moms at daycare came up to me and said saw Sebastian today, he is HUGE!. I was like yeah, what's new... Tonight we are going to cuddle on the couch with lots of blankets, eat really unhealthy popcorn and watch Gnomio & Juliet together.
And that's what an ideal Friday looks like for this lady here. It makes me happy!

♥A.

on a pasta salad...

I thought I'd share my recent summer salad of choice. I made it for father's day and it went well with the usual barbecue. I recommend it for get-togetherswhere you want to bring or make something quick, easy and cool especially with these hot hot days. I know I've been trying to limit my use of the oven and so I jumped on this recipe like a monkey. Sorry that sounded better in my head. You get my gist.

First, you boil up your elbow pasta al dente. I always dip some olive oil into the water that you're boiling the noodles with so they don't stick. Not sure why but elbow pasta always stick if you're not stirring constantly. Once the pasta is on the verge of being all done plop the shrimp in the boiling water and cook until the shrimp is opaque throughout, about 30 minutes.

Drain pasta & shrimp in cold water and transfer into a large bowl.

Next, you take the roughly chopped dill and thinly sliced cucumber and toss it in with the pasta & shrimp. Like so..

In another bowl whisk together mayo, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt + pepper to your taste. Add the mixture to the pasta, mix well and serve! Easy peasy :) And there you have a perfect little pasta salad on a hot summer day.

Also, I like to mix the mayo mixture in a separate dish and wait to add it to the pasta until right before you serve it. I made this the night before and served it last Sunday on Father's Day. So I put the mayo mixture in my lovely Pyrex bowl and then must added it right before I served it with dinner. It tastes, I think, fresher and this way the mayo doesn't soak into the pasta and make it mushy. 

Try it out at your next barbecue. 4th of July is coming up. Give it a go!

Ingredients:

3/4 pound elbow pasta or large shell pasta

1 pound large peeled shrimp

1 cucumber, sliced thinly

1/2 cup, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons Mayo

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

♥A.

on one month...

We've been married one whole month! Can you believe it?

How time flies :) I just love the feeling. You know, that feeling. It's really great and so in honor of our one month anniversary here are some of my favorite photos of Bobby and I together on our big day-- taken by Ashley and Ross of 2Twelve Design & Photo. 

Aren't we just darling?!?!

All week I'll be showing off our lovely photos, so make sure you drop by :) 

♥A.