Favorite Photo of Me

Day 17: A favorite photo of yourself and why

I don't think anyone who knows me would doubt that this would be the picture I chose. To fully explain why this picture means so much to me, I need to first explain THON. As I've mentioned before, I went to Penn State. During my four years there, the activity I was most involved in and impacted by was the Penn State Dance Marathon (known affectionately as THON). THON is the largest student-run philanthropy in the world. It is a year-long fundraising effort that culminates in a 46 hour no-sitting, no-sleeping dance marathon that takes place in our basketball arena.

What makes THON the largest philanthropy is not only the money we raise ($101 million since its inception, over $12 million this past fundraising year alone.), but also the umber of students involved. Thousands of Penn State students and alumni are involved with THON, either through their clubs/sports teams, or as members of the committees that make up THON's infrastructure. It's amazing when you walk into the arena THON weekend and see all these incredibly caring and passionate students coming together for a common cause, and that cause is the Four Diamonds Fund, THON's sole beneficiary. The Four Diamonds Fund was created by the Millard family in memory of their son Christopher Millard, who passed away from pediatric cancer. Today the fund, which is based at the Hershey Medical Center, not only pays for the treatment of all pediatric patients at the hospital, but also funds extensive research to find better treatments and work towards finding a cure.

The partnership between THON and the Four Diamonds Fund is not just about providing financial support for the fund, it is also about providing emotional support for the families being helped. The Four Diamonds Families (families of children being treated at Hershey) are loved and honored by the THON community. Families are adopted by student organizations and invited as guests of honor to events throughout the year. We celebrate with them in their triumphs and we mourn with them in their losses. We dote on the kids, we give strength to the parents, and most of all we make sure they know they're never alone.

And this brings me around to the picture above. It was taken my sophomore year during THON weekend. This beautiful little girl named Alison wanted to play makeover with us, so we took turns brushing lip gloss all over each other. You can tell how serious she was taking the task of doing my makeup, but her smile was radiant, and she was beautiful. I love this picture because it will always remind me of that day, of meeting Alison. It reminds me that no matter how hard it gets, there will still be days of complete joy, that light can be found in even the darkest of places.

P.S. if you read all of this, you are wonderful and I love you :)

A Day in the Life

I apologize, today's MBC prompt is gonna be quite boring, since a typical day in my life looks like this:

Wake up at 7:02
Make/eat breakfast
Throw leftovers in my bag for lunch
Work
Work
Work
Lunch
Work
Work
Come home and make dinner
Catch up on TV and write a blog post
Sleep

See, pretty boring. Unless, of course, it's an atypical day, like the days I play volleyball at the local rec center with friends, or when we go to my brother's after work to visit with Jackie and Dante. Or the days, such as today, when we go out to dinner in the city in order to cross another place off the Philly Top 50 Restaurants. Tonight I'm excited to break up the monotony a bit with a dinner at Sbraga, and hopefully a bit of wandering downtown. I know I still owe you an Amada post, so maybe I'll make this weekend all about the restaurant reviews!

Here's hoping your daily lives are much more exciting than mine!

Things to Smile About

Ten things the make me happy...

1. Summer thunderstorms, especially when I have no where to be
2. Baking goodies (and licking batter off the spoon)

3. Puppies, and by that I mean any fluffy animal of any age
4. Recapping So You Think You Can Dance with Marina
5. Margaritas on a Summer afternoon

6. My family, and all their inherent craziness
7. Having flowers all over my house (and taking way too many pictures of them)
8. Harry Potter

9. Cheese plates for dinner
10. Silly videos of goats on YouTube

This might just be my favorite MBC post to date! Share the things that make you happy below!

Selling Myself in Ten Words

Photo Credit: Jackie via her Instagram

Today's MBC prompt is to sell yourself in ten words or less... hmm..

I cook, I eat, I'm a mega-nerd, let's be friends!

It's a bit hard to sum yourself up in ten words! Ah well, I guess that's why it's a challenge, eh? Today was a very busy day full of errands here, there, and everywhere. Most notably we went to Ikea for the first time in a while, and I realized why it's good that I don't go very often, I just love everything! Now, we're well stocked on everything we needed (and probably some stuff we didn't) and are ready for the Summer BBQ season! One such purchase was a muddler, which I think I'll break in right now with a nice mojito :) Have a great Saturday night, everyone!

Happy Friday!

This was a weird week for me: at times it went quick and all of a sudden it was Wednesday, but then Friday felt like it took so long to get here! Ah, well, here it is, and I'm happy to see it!!

Yesterday's (skipped, oops!) MBC prompt was to share a moment in your day. One moment I savor each day is the one when I first get to work. No one else in my department has arrived yet and the lights are still out. I have a cup of coffee at my desk, put on some music, and read a few blog posts. It's quiet and calm, just a few minutes of me-time to start my day.

Now that I've put myself in such a zen mood, it's time to share an embarrassing moment from my life. If you haven't already guessed, I have had more than my share of embarrassing moments. Tripping, falling, being awkward, that's all just a part my day-to-day life, but what was has been truly embarrassing? Well, there was the time I had poison ivy on...well you know, and had to explain to my manager at the time why I wouldn't be able to come to work as a server (just standing up was unbearable at that point), I think he and I were both mortified. Then there was the time on my 21st birthday when I came out of the bathroom with my skirt upside-down and decided to correct this error on the street, outside the bar, at Penn State, with lots of people around (I'm sure that one was more embarrassing for my friends, though).

These stories pale in comparison, though, to the hands down, most embarrassing moment (especially at the time), which happened when I was a freshman in high school. I was on the swim team and over Winter break we would go on a training trip to Florida. We were on the school bus with the entire team (boys and girls) on our way to the airport, when I had the horrible realization that I needed to pee. Not like, oh I kinda have to go, more like if i don't go in the next ten minutes i'm gonna pee myself right here and now!! (My friend Olivia was actually quite supportive of that option) I begged and pleaded with my coach, I had to go right that second. Finally we pulled the bus over, so I could pee on the side of the road. At this point I wasn't thinking past the fact that my bladder was about to explode, but as I peed on the outside of the bus (like the classy lady I am), the magnitude of what just happened fully dawned on me. I heard the scrape of windows being opened by the boys in the back of the bus, people shouted  Why did we stop? and the answer came Because a freshmen is peeing outside. Thank goodness one of the chaperons came out to my rescue to hold up a towel, or else this moment would've been captured forever on film. Needless to say, I boarded the bus with a very red face, and was thereafter known as The Freshman Who Peed on the Bus.

Alright, now that I've come clean, don't leave me hanging here! Share some of your stories below!

The best advice I could ever give

Today's MBC prompt is to give a piece of advice to everyone, here it goes: If you're tailgating a concert, and you decide to forgo the long lines at the port-o-potties and instead pee behind a car (like the classy lady you are), always bring toilet paper. And if you do not have access to toilet paper, always make sure you are absolutely, 100%, no doubt in your mind, positive that the plant you pick up is NOT poison ivy. If I have saved just one person from my mistakes, it'll be worth the embarrassment of putting this moment out there.

The thing you're most afraid of...

Day 7 of the MBC and the question today is what are you most afraid of? I wondered how I should take this one. I could keep it simple and tell you my fear of heights, or millipedes (I don't trust anything with that many legs). I could go a little deeper and say that I hold my breath when I hear a plane at night, convinced that it's foe. But I think my deepest fear is that one day I'll be faced with something frightening and I will fail to be brave. I don't know where this fear comes from, and even to me it seems silly to be afraid of a shortcoming in myself, but I am scared of being scared. I fear that one day my time will come to be brave for others and I will be paralyzed. The worst part is that there is no way of me knowing what would truly happen in such a situation. I have been fortunate enough in my life to not face many tragedies, so I have never been tested. Maybe someday I will know for sure, but for now I can only hope that when pressed I would have strength to be brave.


On a much lighter note, I'll have another post today for my dinner experience at the highly rated Amada, check back for that later!

May Blogging Challenge Days 5&6

Day 5: Profess you love for a blogging friend.

The time we unknowingly had matching outfits at Thanksgiving

Well, I'm lucky enough to have this gal as a blogging friend and real life sister-in-law! Jackie is AWESOME and someone I truly admire. She is so creative and talented, always up for a new project or adventure. Pretty much anything she touches turns out incredible, but she's always humble and quick to give praise to others. She is my kindred-hippie-spirit, making candles, perfumes, and raising chickens together! Her energy and happiness is infectious, she gives great advice, and she's someone you just want to be around. I can't say enough about how much I love this lady, my brother is a lucky dude :)

Her blog is Miss Adventurenaut, and I highly recommend you add her to your follow list. She is always posting great recipes, music suggestions, and pictures of the cutest Chihuahua Dante. Hop on over there and you'll see what I mean! And also check her out on Twitter & Instagram.


Day 6: If you couldn't answer with your job, how would you answer the question "what do you do?"

I read, I write, I make lots of silly faces. I take photos, and spend time with the people I love. I spend entirely too much time online shopping without ever actually buying anything. I cook and eat and drink margaritas. I thrift and like to give new life to old things. I garden. I start projects and then take breaks (sometimes months long), but I try to never abandon them completely. I go to dog shelters and play with the pups, and then I get sad when I can't take them all home. I go out and dance, I stay in and dance. I sleep in on the weekends and make French toast. I curse too much and worry too little. I put off exercising like a champ. I love life and I try to fill my days, weeks, and months with lots of memories.

Favorite Quote

"When you do dance / I wish you a wave o' the sea / that you might ever do nothing but that."
William Shakespeare The Winter's Tale

I hope you all have a very happy Saturday! I'll be spending mine with family and friends celebrating Cinco de Mayo/Dante's birthday!

What makes you uncomfortable?

Completely unrelated photo, but a pretty bridge none-the-less

Today's MBC is to tell what makes you uncomfortable. I really had to think on this one, I'm not that squeamish and I've been an awkward person so long that I've grown immune, so there isn't too much that makes my stomach twist with discomfort. Thinking back on the last few times I truly felt uncomfortable, there seemed to be just one connecting factor; they were all situations when I just didn't know what to say to someone. Whether it be a teacher putting me on the spot for an answer I don't have, someone telling a story from their life when I have no experience or advice to offer, or even just stressing over how to answer a simple text message, I find that I feel the most uncomfortable when my thoughts and words come up short. It's not that I feel the need to always reply or put my two-cents into every conversation, it comes more from the times when my reply is expected and the other person looks at me, waiting. I'm getting anxiety just thinking about these situations!

I suppose, though, that there is probably a lesson in here. Something along the lines of really thinking before you speak, so you can add something to the world and not just fill the silence with rambles. Maybe someday I'll have read and experienced enough that when I do come up short, it won't cause me discomfort, but instead will allow me to reflect. Not today, though, today it makes me want to high-tail it out of the situation as quick as my legs can carry me (so, not very).


I hope you guys are enjoying this deviation in post content! I know that I'm enjoying the challenge of each prompt and the reflections they've lead to. If you're also doing the challenge, leave me a link in the comments, so I can read your posts!

May Blogging Challenge - Part Deaux

It's May 2nd and time for the second day of the May blogging challenge! Today's prompt was to "Educate us on something you know a lot about or are good at." I'm embarrassed to say, this one had me stumped for a bit. That's not to say I think I have no skills, but I had trouble thinking of something I do well enough to teach someone else. So, in search of ideas, I flipped through the pages of my blog to see what I write about most often. As I did this, I started to see a pattern emerge...

Yes, the theme I'm seeing is that I enjoy a good cocktail, and given this fact (combined with my thrifty ways) I'm also quite good at making them! So for today's challenge I present to you my recipes for two of my favorite drinks; a Pomegranate Margarita and a Spicy Bloody Mary. (Continue after the jump)



Pomegranate Margarita

You will need:

Limes
Simple Syrup
Pomegranate Juice
Triple Sec
Tequila
Agave & Salt (optional)

I like to rim the glass with agave and salt (this combo was actually born from laziness one night that I didn't have a lime to make the salt stick, but I really like the salty-sweetness!) Squeeze the juice from half a lime over ice, then add half a shot of simple syrup, two shots of triple sec to one shot of tequila. Fill the glass with pomegranate juice, stir, and enjoy!


Spicy Bloody Mary

You will need:

Tomato Juice
Salt & Pepper
Worcestershire Sauce
Horseradish
Sriracha (or other hot sauce)
Lime or Lemon
Vodka
Cilantro (optional)
Olives, Celery, Bacon, anything you want to garnish!

Full disclosure: these measurement are all approximate and we just add as we go, so make sure to keep tasting throughout to make sure you like the mix! We usually make a big batch a time in a carafe or jug.  Into the tomato juice add 1 tbsp Worcestershire, 1 tbsp horseradish, and 1 tsp Sriracha. Add the juice of half a lime, then a dash of salt and two dashes pepper. Stir well, and if you like it extra spicy (like me) add another tbsp of horseradish and tsp hot sauce. Then add enough vodka till your satisfied (I go until you just smell it, perfect amount every time). In the bottom of your glass muddle the cilantro (if using it), add ice and pour in your bloody, garnish and toast to another weekend!

I hope you enjoyed the recipes (I know I do), let me know if you have your own signature cocktail recipe!

May Blogging Challenge: Day 1

I have been absent, I know! I'm sorry! I have no one to blame but myself for the lack of posts, but I'm going to go ahead and blame someone else anyway: Game of Thrones. I started it from Season 1 this weekend, and now I just can't stop! I should have known that the mix of fantasy, costumes, characters and medievaly-goodness would be too much for me to handle, would keep me up till way to late because I just need to see one more episode, and oh my god I can't leave after a cliff-hanger! Spoiler alert: every episode ends with a cliff-hanger.

So, in order to make up for my recent lack of activity (and to sharpen my writing skills) I've decided to take up the May blogging challenge put forth by Jenni over at Story of my Life. She goes a lot more in-depth with what it entails on her blog, but basically she's created a prompt for each day to let you get creative and make a nice post! I'll be keeping regular features and throwing in my own stuff along the way, but I figured this challenge would be a nice way to get my non-blog-posting-bum in gear! I highly encourage anyone else out there to take up the challenge as well! As Jenni says, there is no blog-police to tell you if you're doing it wrong or right, you can go all-the-way or just pick a couple prompts that you like, the choice is yours!

Now, without further ado, my first May Blogging Challenge: The story of my life in 250 words or less.

Why, yes, I did have a ginger baby-fro. Jealous?

Born April 6, 1990, raised and loved in Ambler, PA with two awesome older brothers and fantastic parents. The baby and only girl of the family, I had it good J When I was thirteen, I met my older sister and my amazing nephews and niece (there’s a story) and I’m so happy to have them in my life. I was a high school swimmer and nerd (I always finished the reading list), with a tight group of friends that I keep to this day. I went to Penn State where I had another group of amazing friends, was still a nerd, and had the best four years of my life. Lots of football, lots of nights out, and lots of activities – THON, BBBS, H.E.A.L., Relay – I loved (and still do) to do things  that allows me to help others. I graduated (kind of), moved to Philly, and got a job. Not my dream job, but that’s okay, I’m happy to be working. Decided that I needed to fulfill my passions outside of work, so I got busy! I took up photography, sewing, writing (still reading), gardening, and, of course, blogging. In the past year I've made new friends, explored new places, and learned a lot about myself and who I want to be. While I still don’t know what my dream job is, I’m getting closer. And in the meantime, I’m filling my days with lots of friends, lots of memories, (lots of happy hours), and life is good!

BOOM! 250 on the nose. Thanks for sticking it out on this long post, and if you do end up doing the challenge, let me know! I'll follow right along with you :)